Girdles are back!

Coolopolis believes that girdles are back. We all wear them here. No joke. You realize that the only way you'll ever get a sixpack is to paint it on a la Janet Jackson and Persian King Xerxes from 300. The apparel industry is ready to help you bust that gut with fancy fashionable good looking gear as proven in these two small pictures of trusses for sale. We also think two Montrealers who would make excellent models for the gut hiding apparatuses might be former provincial MNA Thomas Mulcair and TV host Debbie Travis. We're not implying that they currently wear girdles. No, no, we're not saying that at all. In fact Thomas Mulcair certainly, almost certainly, we think...does not wear a girdle. And as for Debbie Travis, of course she doesn't. Just look closely next time you see her on TV. She's clearly not wearing one. Then again our TV isn't so great up here in Coolopolis Towers, so maybe it's the opposite.

Immigrant orchestra hits the stage

Lucy Milo wants you over on June 7 to catch one of Montreal's charming success stories, the Musicians of the World Orchestra, which was founded one year ago when Lucy and her conductor husband met an accomplished classical musician working as a local doorman. They started grouping together about 50 immigrants who couldn't crack the city's mainstream classical musical establishments. Unless you're in the guild and working 50 shows a year, you're out in the cold, but the exile has ended for these talented musicians.

Tix to the 570s seat Oscar Peterson Hall are going fast, so snap 'em up while they're available.

"We’re doing Brahms' Symphony #2 and we’re having a group called Chu Ruata ensemble they are eight singers from Venezuela, they’re doing a 15-20 min presentation, last year we did china, we want to do one or two or three a year, showcasing one of our country's traditional repertoire," Lucy Milo tells Coolopolis.

Today's skill testen question

When Coolopolis mascot/helper Chimples The Intelligent Chimp went bezerk after stealing some barbituates from the knapsack of a summer intern, we had to temporarily vacate Coolopolis HQ for safety reasons until Chimples calmed down. Coolopolis' entire weekend staff of 27 ended up sitting around this place for a couple of hours. Anybody know where it is? We have some winners! Yes it's Hotel Nelligan in Olde Montreal.

The downside of swinging Mtl in the 40s

City VD Rate Is Stil High-Hgihest in Canada; says army issuing new warning
By Jacqueline Scrois September 9, 1944

Despite the conference held last January on the venereal disease problem in Montreal, despite newspaper publicity and despite campaigns, the venereal disease rate for M.D. 4 has not changed since July, 1943 while rates in every other military district in Canada have gone down, statistics show.

Montreal's rate is now 2 1/2 times that of the Canadian Army in Canada, including M.D. 4. If M.D. 4 is omitted from the overall picture, Montreal's rate is three times that of all other districts in the Canadian Army in Canada, official figures reveal. ...

The rate for M.D. 4 is now 60 per 1,000. The Canadian army rate is 24 per 1,000.

The answer to Montreal's tragic rate lies somewhere behind the intricate facade of the City hall and behind the bungling efforts of the municipal police department, the spokesman declared today. "

"It is claimed that the better known brothels have been closed, this seems true," the spokesman said, "
but prostitution, as such, has not been sufficiently curtailed.."

There is still prostitution in rooming houses on St. Dominique, De Bouillon and St. Lawrence streets, he says.

Prostitutes operate in night clubs and bring customers to rooming houses. Worst streets in the west end are Mountain, Stanley and Dorchester west, according to complaints from infected persons.

Street walkers are permitted to operate freely, particularly at the corner of St. Lawrence and St. Catherine.....

"The number of infected women has reached the proportions of an epidemic. ALL prostitutes in the city of Montreal have either gonorrhea or syphilis or both. Almost ALL PICK UPS who practice sexual intercourse have either gonorrhea of syphilis or both. Make no mistake about the casual pick-ups.

Photo du Jour: St. Denis 1914

Just to remind you that there are weather days worse than today, here's a ridiculously quaint, slice-of-bread snapshot by a cold-footed Edgar Gariepy. It's St. Denis St. in wintertime. We're looking south from Ontario, by the looks of it. That's the spire of St. Jacques Church -- which was ripped apart for that chocolate box called UQAM -- in the unlikely event that you were wondering.
Here's another view by artist John Geoffrey Caruthers Little (b. 1928).

Sorta like shoe-bombers, 1907-style

Railway wrecking is something you don't hear of much anymore, unless it involves Mohawks unhappy with the pace of land-claim settlements or something like that. But rail wrecking crews were a busy bunch, a hundred years ago this week. This item's from the Quebec City Chronicle. Our Coolopolis office in Cushing burned down in 1909, and all our archives were lost in the downtown tornado of '22, so we forget where Cushing is -- or was. But night watchman Horace "Sleepy" Sanderson remembers it being up around Lachute somewhere.

Green Bottle Street - the quintissential MTL short story based on this article...

Patrick Waddington was an Englishman working at CBC radio international in the 1940s, and a freelancer writer. He was well-known in Montreal literary circles, hanging out at regular poetry meetings, for First Contact and other low budget Montreal poetry magazines. He and his wife Miariam were also known as being the first family to get their Jewish child allowed into a Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal school in Hampstead, in 1951. Waddington wasn't Jewish but his poet wife Miriam- who now lives in BC - is. Patrick Waddington went from living in his wife's literary shadow to sudden fame thanks to his 1954 Montreal short story "The Street That Got Mislaid." It's the tale of a meticulous Montreal bureaucrat who discovers a street in Montreal that he had lost the record of, Green Bottle Street. When the official visits the street he is charmed by an enchanted cooperative paradise.

The story has been translated into dozens, if not hundreds of languages and is available to read all over the internet.

Few know however that Waddington's story was based on a real life city official named Albert Garand. Waddington profiled Garand for the Montreal Standard around 1949. Here's parts of that article below, you'll note how easy it was to change a street name back then. He was also angling to get a street named after himself, it would appear.

Please be forgiving, Coolopolis' typing pool had manicures on their lunch breaks so they took the rest of the day off. We'll add the second page when we can find it.
What's in a name?
For Albert Garand, who christens Montreal's streets, there's many a headache
by Patrick Waddington

In case you don't know, there are more than 2,000 streets, avenues, bouelvards and lanes in Montreal. And each has one has a different name.

The absence of duplication didn't happen by accident. The man who, among the living, has been most responsible for this state of affairs is Albert Garand, draughstman and archivist at City Hall.

Few people outside City Hall know of Garand's work or realize that the street on which they live was, most likely, entitled by him.

He doesn't have to do it, for there's a standing committee to do (illegible)

"Those were the days. The first year I began, I changed hundreds of names. There was no official commission then, you understand. I had, you might say, free play.

"When a street had to be named, the city clerk would call in some aldermen and they would pass on my suggestions. Almost always they agreed to my ideas because I had good reasons for them.

"I put things in order. It took a long time, many years. It was a question of art, of the aestheticism you understand and of history as well.
....
Hebert settled in Quebec in 1617 Garand has him down in the files.

I told him how in some European cities an historical anecdote is sometimes appended to a name plate on a street, indicating why it was so designated.

A street in Berlin, for example, called Flute, has, in small lettering under the plates - "Named after the musical instrument loved by Frederic he Great. "

"Ah," Garanda said enthusiastically, "There is an idea! But the commission wouldn't allow it. Too expensive. Some day, perhaps."

There is a standing rule at City Hall, incidentally, that no street be named after a municipal executive while he is still alive.

"In the old days," my informant told me, "there was a lot of rivalry among the aldermen who have their names go down to posterity. Especially when they heard of my little files and their biographical notes. Naturally, one alderman wouldn't hear of another getting a street named after him unless the same favor was returned.

"But once there was big sandal. A city big-shot got into trouble. And the city clerk had to have the street name changed in a hurry so that the scandal would not be perpetuated forever. This cost money, you understand and was a nuisance as well. So we wait until they're dead now and we can be sure all is well.

"This rule is still challenged from time to time but," Garand says firmly, "there are no exceptions."

Garand then informed that he had had the great, if somewhat .. pleasure in naming a street after an his old friend "xx Laurent David, the city clerk whom was most associated in his work.

"Perhaps who knows, someone may remember me the same way. It would be reward enough."

This is how he operates. When a new section is laid out, he.... integrated series ready. This series might be the series of famous battles of World War II in which Canadians distinguished themselves. Or it might be the names of writers and artists who have made their ....such as Fali-Lavallee or Louis Hemon.

But the same rule applies as to the aldermen, they have to be xx cavil and calumny. Writers of risque novels might sigh in vain, their names will not appear on Montreal streets, though they be as popular as the author of Forever Amber.

If a new city section is of mingled English and French population, Garand names the streets with scrupulous fairness, as regards etymology half and half. He tries to please everybody.

One street with then naming of which Garand is not concerned is De Bullion. "This street, he said, was formerly Caille Cadieux, "But, alas, it acquired a certain reputation."

"So, to adjust matters, it was named De Bullion by the city, after a famous and respected personnage. Whether it has had the effect intended is not, of course, for me to say."

I remarked on the great number of saints' names in Montreal.

"Most of them," he said, "were actually named by early residents. A man whose first name was Hubert, fo instance, would call the place he lived on St. Hubert. This was a comon practice in the old days. There are more than 200 such names in the city."

Garand took time out here to reproach mildly the street-car operators who have won admiration by giving by French and English versions of one name, as in Gui-Guy.

"Guy street was named afte a Madame Guy who resided there," he said. "The English version is quite wrong. You might as well call Park avenue Le Parc. But it's the custom now.

"Or take Inspector street. This was named after a superintendant of the water supply system years ago. It should be Rue de l'Inspecteur, but I don't suppose it will ever be remedied."

As far as the renaming of old streets is concerned, Garanda's work is practically finished. It is true, he says, that old names will be changed from time to time to honor someone or some event, but it's an expensive business.
The name plates cost about 3 cents each, and are made, shocking as it seems, in Toronto. But when scores of such plates have to be ordered, and new maps drawn and files changed, the cost adds up. It has to be pretty important before a sreet name is changed now.

"There is one little thing I'd like to se decided before I retire," Garand says. "There's a little street downtown called after a Micmac chief known to the early setlers. And no one knows yet whether his name was Chagoumigan or Chagoumigin. It's a litttle thing, but I'd like to see it settled."

There you are. If you're interested in naming a new section, and your ideas have merit, pass them on to Garand. Because he has as much to do as anyone in deciding the question.

An obscure job, but it's made time fly for him in his 35 years at City Hall.

Anniversary gore: They sure don't chase 'em the way they used to

FATAL CHASE

A stolen car splits in two after a 100-mile-an-hour chase: 2 dead, 3 injured
By Herve Lapierre

La Patrie, Wednesday, May 29, 1957 (Originals: front; turn)

Two people were killed and three others injured -- two of them gravely -- early this morning in a chase that saw police in pursuit of the occupants of a stolen car traveling more than 100 miles (160 km -ed.) an hour. The stolen car split into two after striking the steel support of a utility pole.

The theft of the car, which belonged to the Earl Clothing Company at 15 Ontario St. West, was reported to municipal police yesterday afternoon. The vehicle was parked in Rosemont when it was stolen.

The search for the vehicle started immediately and ended tragically.

Now lying at the morgue on St. Vincent Street are the bodies of Roger Belanger, 22 years, 2245 Quesnel Street, and Lionel Dubois, 30.

Belanger died at St. Luc Hospital a few minutes after admission at about 2 a.m. and Dubois, who was transported to the General Hospital (western division), about 3:30 a.m.

The two young men involved in the incident, Robert Hawley, 19 years, 2429 Coleraine, and Billy Nash, 18 years, 1510 Bannantyne, have been hospitalized -- one at St. Luc and the other and the General Hospital. One of the two is on the verge of death and the second, who was less severely injured, has refused to talk to police about the tragic adventure in which he participated.

The other injured person is Mrs. Philippe Duval, 32 years, 939 St. Ferdinand St., whose leg was broken in the collision of the stolen car. Mrs. Duval was walking with a friend near the scene of the tragedy.

Furnished with a description of the stolen car during the afternoon, officers Paul Lalonde and Gerard Dessureault, of radio car 348, reported spotting the vehicle around 1:30 last night near the Glen, at the intresection of De Courcelles and St. Antoine Streets.

Police immediately gave chase to the four occupants whose vehicle suddenly and violently struck a post and was crushed.

As the officers approached the car, the suspects were unconscious in their seats and were soaked in their own blood.

Ambulances were were immediately called to transport the victims to the aforementioned institutions where two of them soon succumbed to their injuries; their bodies now lie in the morgue on St. Vincent St.

As for the car that was featured in the wild ride, it is now little more than scrap metal. Its remains have been transported to the municipal garage.

Photo captions

Top: It was in this mass of steel last night around 1:30 a.m. that ended the tragic adventure of four young men who were driving around in a stolen car. Police gave chase and, in their attempt to escape, their vehicle collided with a post at the corner of De Courcelles and St. Antoine. Here is one of the sections.

Middle: Police had difficulty removing the victims of this tragedy that took place last night. Two of the occupants were killed and two others are in a critical condition in hospital. The car was reduced to pieces.

Bottom: AT THE THEATRE OF TRAGEDY -- Curious onlookers examine the debris of the automobile that crashed last night against the post at the intersection of De Courcelles and St. Antoine. The vehicle had been reported stolen a few hours earlier. Two of the occupants died in the accident that occurred after police gave chase to the suspects. Two others are in grave condition in hospital. Police informed us that a pregnant woman, who was crossing the intersection at the wrong time, was struck by one of the victims who was projected into her. She was also conveyed to hospital.

Christie v. York - beer issues at the Old Forum

Here's a sad page from Montreal history that we all should know about. Seventy years ago two black Montrealers were refused service in the newly opened York Tavern inside the Old Forum. Fred Christie regularly went to the hockey games and couldn't believe the refusal. There had been several precedents in Montreal and judges always sided with the aggrieved minority. But this time it went all the way to the Supreme Court where the judges decided that the bar did indeed have the right to refuse them service. It was argued that according to British legal tradition and custom innkeepers cannot refuse travelers who come to their door. That didn't work. Christie v. York became a dark moment in Montreal and Canadian history. Here's a description of the first part of the story from James W. Walker & Edward Andrew's "Race" rights and the law in the Supreme court of Canada: historical case studies (1999). (typos are the fault of the Coolopolis typing pool.)

--
Fred Christie was a black man, a chauffeur by occupation, a member of the Union United Church, a resident of Montreal for over 20 years when the incident in question occurred. A tall man with a fit and healthy demeanor, impeccably clean and well-dressed, Mr. Christie is described as having the deportment of a gentleman and an impressive manner in his carriage and speech. In complexion he was pale brown. Born in Jamaica in 1902, he migrated to Montreal as a teenager at the end of World War I. His Jamaican accent had long since been modified, but its legacy was a precise way of speaking which added to his courtly and dignified air. Among his Canadian acquisitions was a passion for the sport of ice hockey. He had a season ticket to a box seat at the Montreal Forum, and he rarely missed a game.

In the spring of 1936 the York Tavern moved from its previous location into the ground floor of the Montreal Forum. To announce its move the tavern took out newspaper advertisements and displayed a large sign inviting the public to visit its new premises and taste its wares. Fred Chrsitie and his friends had often enjoyed a glass of beer in the old York Tavern, which had been located just o the north of the largest concentration fo black population in Montreal The new location, however, brought with it a new policy: management instructed the staff that under no circumstances were "Negroes" to be served.

On the evening of Saturday July 11, 1936, Mr. Christie and two friends Emile King and Steve St. Jean, entered the Forum to attend a hockey game. Mr. King was a Texas-born African American who had lived in Montreal for 19 years and was employed as a butler. Mr. St. Jean was a French-Canadian salesman. They often attended athletic matches together. At Chrstie's invitation the three friends decided to stop for a beer before the game. he had no reason to suspect that hey might be unwelcome. A waiter approached and Fred Christie placed a 50-cent piece n the table politely ordering "three steins of beer." The waiter responded, "Gentlemen, I am very sorry I cannot serve colored people." Mr. Christie asked "Why? Since when?" "It is an order from the m anger," he was told. Incredulous, Christie demanded an interview with the manager. First to arrive was bartender George Gressie, who confirmed that ever since the tavern opened in the Forum its policy had been to refuse service to black people. Christie insisted on seeing someone more senior, and eventually assistant manager Romeo Lajoie was brought to the table. Quietly and politely, so that neighbour tables could not overhear, Mr. Lajoie explained to the party that even had he wanted to, he was not permitted by the York Corporation's regulations to accommodate "colored men in the tavern. "Is that the only reason??" Christie asked. "Yes," said Lajoie. His demeanor slipping, Christie stalked to a pay telephone just outside the tavern and called the police. Apparently anticipating some disorder, the two constables who responded were less than tactful, alerting the crowed of 70 patrons to the dispute at the Christie table. In the presence of the police witnesses Mr. Christie again insisted on being served. Mr. Lajoie repeated his polite refusal one last time. The policemen, whose impatience was directed more towards Christie than Lajoie, said there was absolutely nothing they could do. They left, followed by Fred Christie and his two friends.

Fred Christie and Emile King were no strangers to racial discrimination, but they were outraged by this incident. Like most other African Canadians in Montreal, they had learned which shops and theatres to avoid, which jobs were unavailable, which residential districts would exclude them. But when they expected service, in an establishment so publicly located, they felt betrayed and humiliated. The "colour line" had advanced toward them, or so it seemed, and they decided it was time to fight back. Confident that they had an absolute right to equality and insulted at the inferiority implied by their rejection, Christie and King decided to sue the York Tavern for the humiliation they had suffered.

The Coolopolis cowboy hat editorial

Many people mistakenly believe cowboy hats to be less than attractive. It's quite the opposite. In fact the cowboy hat is sartorial spanish fly. Coolopolis Image Consultant Deborah Savvey recommended an image rehaul of summer intern Chet Wiesel. He was rechristened BJ Montana from Billings. It worked like a charm. Here he is frolicking at Bleury and St. Catherine with a marvellous miss yesterday or something. Cowboy hats, there's nothing like 'em.

Quiz - spot the civil disobedience - betcha can't get it

This is on a little one block semi-lane type street parallel to McGill Street just West of Old Montreal, that's the corner of William up ahead. Can you spot the nefarious bit of naughtiness that's going on in this photo?

ANSWER TIME! We have a winner! Actually we have many winners... anybody who took the time to comment receives our accolades, however we have no winning answer. This is the correct reply: the parking sign has been removed. The black pole that stands between the bicycle and the man was planted in the soil to establish parking guidelines. Every street has such a pole. This tiny street, Longeuil, as it's called, has no such sign. That's because some clever person has gone behind with a wrench and unscrewed it and removed it. It's a remarkably simple remedy. A few turns of a bolt and no longer do we have instructions governing our habits. So now that little street is a free-for-all for anybody to leave their car anytime for any length of time without regulation. The street has been without parking instruction for several years now. The city has surely been aware of it, It's a bit of a green bottle street thing happening here. If you don't know what green bottle street thing is, Coolopolis is fixing up a dossier on that exact subject to appear here in a day or two, stay tuned.

Quiz of today

What is special about this unimpressive-looking building and whatdoes it have that led so many to rip it off over the last decade?

Wrestling Coverage from 1906

This ran in a local paper 101 years ago. That's what they called sports writing back then. Wrestling, eh? If that time machine gets fixed we'll go back and shoot some photos of the pie eating contest involving the city councillors.
-----
WHAT WILL THE TURK DO TO-NIGHT?
The Montreal Daily Herald
Friday, March 16, 1906 Page 10
Gigantic Oriental Meets Big Swede at Sohmer To-Night
What will the Turk -- never mind his name; he spells it differently every time -- do to Samson the Swede? No good asking Samson, for The Herald's Rassling Expert spent yesterday evening in trying to extract from that gigantic human head-twister just what his chances were --
and failed. Mr. Samson doesn't know.
The interview was something like this:
"Thanks. Don't care if I do." This from the H.R.E.
"Well, here's a go." From Samson.
"Pour it down your neck." H.R.E.
Samson -- "Pretty good stuff that."
H.R.E. -- "Sure. Old country?"
Samson -- "Yep. Nuther?"
"Sure. Thanks. Don't care if I do."
"Well, here's a go," etc.
So, you see, Samson can't tell just what he's going to do to the Turk, or what the Turk will do to him.

The Herald got the announcement all balled up yesterday. We said that the prizes were to be diamond rings, pianos, summer cottages, $800 in gold and a trip to London. Say, you ought to have seen George Kennedy.

He sailed in here about as big as forty houses and tore the floor right up -- wrecked the whole outfit. Tossed a ten-ton press out into the Beaver Hall car-tracks and pushed the bindery department right in to the proof-readers' rooms. It was fierce, all right, and we make haste to correct our error of yesterday. Sure, it's all right you know George but don't do it again! It messes things up don't you see?

The wrestling melee will come off on time and the six negroes will do or die. The survivor will be given four pianos and $8,000 in bills -- no cottages or trips to London -- plain everyday pianos and money.

To the victor of the Karnanderino-Samson bout will be given a peck of unset rubies and a pound of green cheese. He will eat the cheese on the spot and throw the rubies into the audience: nothin' mean about eather of these ginnies.

Then the Lundin-Fenglarinder bout will see the winner receive a dozen fur-lined overcoats, seven gold watches and eighteen hundred-dollar bills. Both these chaps are out for the victory -- and both can't win at the same time. It is rumored that this later feature is to cause considerable confusion.

A grand world's championships pie-eating contest will wind up the glory to-night. The pies are specially made by the city's foundry experts and are guaranteed to be equal to the emergency.

Among the pie entries are Col Sam Hughes, Bill McLean an officer of the Gas Company and three Legislative councillors. Heavy odds are offered on one of the councillors but the local's friends hope to pull out a victory.

Jack Rose, champion bag-puncher of England, will give an exhibition of his prowess. This will be his first appearance in America.

Bad legs in St. Henry

We can live with the fact that the people of St. H have a certain flair, a style that has grown out of the old days of Victoria Day Mattress burnings (to kill the bedbugs according to one self-proclaimed expert).... and we like their haircuts and dogs and the fact that we never really know if they're embracing retro chic or if they're just stuck in the ol' time mullet era stylistics.... but we oppose dermatological contagion. Somebody get that girl a doctor!

NDG Landmark moves on - another to begin

Agostini's is gone. How long y'figger Agostini's graced Old Orchard and Upper Lachine? Twenty years? Thirty? In fact it was there less than 10. Not exactly a local landmark, but many were used to seeing it. Until around 1998 the locale was industrial kinda deal, an air conditioning repair sorta thing, ITTC (irrelevant to the community). A Korean BBQ joint moving in. The spot could be exposed to more viewers in a couple of years, as a roundabout is being built that will ferry many more drivers near to this joint. Coolopolis has booked seats at the restaurant launch. The six unpaid summer interns have to foot the bill for the entire Coolopolis staff of 23 as part of their initiation ritual, it was either that or the empty bottle ritual. They opted for this.

Restaurant for rent

The corner spot in the background under the white sign - it's the busy corner of Church (de L'Eglise) and Verdun Avenue - has housed a successful restaurant for 50 years. After the old owner retired last year, several restaurateurs bid on the 3,000 square foot operation. The winning offer was from Restaurant Babylon, which sadly fared less well, offering Iraqi pastries depicted in somewhat unappetizing photos and a big Halal sign in a largely non-Muslim area. The location will soon be back up for bids in a turnkey deal, or even possibly transformed into a non-restaurant retail.

Political chic on Wellington and Church in Verdun

This ambulatory human billboard strolled down Wellington with the message: Anti Zionist Jews Boycott Israel's Zionazis. I wonder if that space is for rent. Maybe we could buy an ad.

1924 - They wanna ban naughty movie posters

Picture posters are condemned
The Montreal Gazette June 26, 1924

Executive Committee asked to suppress pictorial theatrical displays - Said to be immoral Delegation at City Hall represented numerous organizations of both languages.

Asserting that certain pictorial representations displayed in front of places of amusement exerted an evil influence on the minds of youth, delegates to the number of 200 representing numerous national,welfare parochial and other organizations of men and women with memberships composed of individuals of all religious believe, through their spokesmen demanded the suppression of all displays of such character when yesterday received by the Executive Commitee of the City Council.

The unanimity of the arguments offered by the speakers both Catholic and Protestant and the strength of the organizations represented impelled three members of the Executive Committee to declare that the appeal had their sympathy and the desired action would take place.

There will be a further conference at the City Hall tomorrow afternoon when representative of hte united organizations will meet he members of the City Council.

Organizations represented by the delegation included such important bodies as La Federation Nationale Saint Jean-Baptiste, numerous parochial groups, organizations of employees, many study circles, La Societe St. Jean Baptiste, the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Commercial Travellers, L'Association Catholicque de la Jeunesse Canadienne, the Catholic unions, the Confraternity of St. Vincent de Paul, the League of the Sacred Heart, the League of Good Morals, L'Association Catholique Feminine, the Local Council of Women, the Montreal West Women's Club, the Catholic Womens' League, the Outremont North End Women's Club, the Notre Dame de Grace Womens' Club and other groups representing large memberships.
IS A SERIOUS EVIL
Arthur Laramee, K.C. president of the League of Good Morals, was the first speaker. Mr. Laramee said the delegation had come to submit their grievances on a serious evil, of which, however, he did not hold the Executive Committee responsible, although the intimated that the remedy was in the hands of that body.

The speaker dwelt upon the posters of theaters and cinema show which he declared were often immoral. The Superintendent of Police possessed authority to control the presentations of such posters.

The functionary did not have time to undertake such supervision, consequently he had to delegate his powers to others. It was a point, contended Mr. Laramee, as to whether the head of the Police Department or any other poolice officer was competent de decided whether or not a poster was immoral. Many fathers and mothers did not want their children to go into places of entertainment, but when the child saw striking posters displayed the effect on the child's unformed nature was unfavorable.

Therefore the organizations he represented had reached the conclusion that the best thing to do was to entirely suppress these posters. It might be thought that they wanted to go too far, but the action asked for was necessary because the present law has become a dead letter. Mr. Laramee said that the censor of films was doing his duty, but the proprietors of movie houses were not doing their duty. Mr. Laramee then offered the text of a resolution approved of by the many organizations of both tongues and varied religious allegiance, to the effect that the City Council and the Executive Commitee take measures to suppress all posters, pictures and displays at the doors of theater and moving picture houses, and that orders to this effect be issued to the Superintendant of Police.
STATEMENTS OF WOMEN
Mrs. Gerin-Lajoie, president of La Fedreation Nationale Saint Jen Baptiste, supported the statements of Mr. Laramee and quoted that children recently brought before the courts admitted that their reason for theft was their desire to go to picture shows.

Mrs. J. J. Louson, a vice-president of the Local Council of Women, which represents fifty-two English speaking societies, agreed with the previous speaker and declared that he recognized the baneful action of posters displayed at picture theaters. Abbe Valois, representing Archbishop Gauthier, said that the Apostolic Administrator was heartily in accord with the movement. Rev. Arthur Runnells, pastor of Westmount Methodist Church, said that people of different faiths had come to the City Hall united to face a common peril. Rev. Father Gauthier, pastor of St. James Church, said that there was agreement in the dictum, "Save the child and you will save the nation." Alderman Desrochers, speaking as a member of the Executive Committee, told the delegation to be assured that they would aim their request. Alderman O'Connell and Alderman Bedard approved of hte remarks of their colleagues and said that they would strive to obtain the abolition of such posters.

Namur metro - should it have been built at Victoria or Decarie?

Back in the day any changes proposed to the Blue Bonnets racetrack were immediately denounced as a plot to make the mega-powerful Robert Campeau even richer. He went broke eventually anyway, if that's any consolation. Thirty years ago Campeau was suspected of using his ..um.. influence to get the MUCTC (now the MTC) to put the Namur metro closer at Decarie and Gene Tallin (aka Jean Talon) rather than at the originally slated location of Victoria and Jean Talon, a five minute walk east. Nowadays the corner of Victoria remains moribund: an empty field, a car wash, a large defunct Cote St. Luc BBQ chicken restaurant as well as a Valu Village where young women go to buy ironic message T-shirts. In contrast, Decarie and Jean Talon is boomtown! It's got a load of new stores including a Wal Mart and the great Decarie Square Mall not so far down. (Coolopolis shops at Wal Mart. Last summer we asked a young Wal Mart cashier how he liked his job. "I never would have believed that people could be as mean as these customers.") Presumably the placing of the metro at Decarie and Jean Talon dictated the fates of much real estate. Ultimately it seems that the big boss Lawrence Hanigan was vindicated by the result, although his weird idea of a pedestrian tunnel between the metro and the racetrack, dug underneath the already-dug out Decarie never happened.

Proposed Metro site defended by Hanigan
The Montreal Star Tuesday May 31, 1977
by Terence Moore
MUC executive committee chairman Lawrence Hanigan yesterday mounted a large-scale defense of the location of the proposed Namur Metro Station at Jean Talon Street and Decarie Boulevard.

The opposition Montreal Citizens' Movement contends that social, technical and traffic problems dictate building the station as originally planned, half a mile further east at Jean Talon Street and Victoria Avenue.

The MCM maintains that the proposed station was moved to Decarie Boulevard for the benefit of the backers of the proposed Campeau Corporation commercial and residential development on the Blue Bonnets racetrack site, east of the Decarie Expressway at Jean Talon.

The Namur station may be the terminus of the west-end Metro line for a few years. The MUCTC had planned to build the line from the present Bonaventure terminus through St. Henri, NDG, Snowdon and Mount Royal up to a terminus at de Salaberry Street in St. Laurent.

But a year ago the former Liberal government ordered the MUC not to pursue the work beyond the Namur station at Jean Talon Street, because of high construction costs and because St. Laurent might eventually be served by improved commuter services on the CNR tunnel line to Two Mountains.

Mr. Hanigan told a press conference yesterday that the first published plans of the Metro extensions showed the Namur station at Victoria and Jena Talon, but that no careful study had preceded that choice.

Since then, he said, employees of the MUC, the MUC Transit Commission and the City of Montreal traffic department took a closer look at the population densities, bus route connections, traffic patterns and parking space available and found that the station should be built at Decarie Boulevard.

He said MUC surveys show more people live within walking distance of Decarie and Jean Talon than live within walking distance of Victoria and Jean Talon.

MCM surveys find just the reverse.

Mr. Hanigan also contended that bus connections will be better at Decarie than at Victoria. Buses from north will have to come down from Decarie service road, he said. Putting that station at Victoria wold require them to turn off Decarie to drop their passengers at the station.

The eastern part of the Blue Bonnets site is available as a Metro-users parking lot and as a bus terminal, he said. With the station at Decarie, a pedestrian tunnel can be build under the expressway to connect the station with that site.

Mr. Hanigan accused the MCM of inconsistency because MCM councillors voted in favor of land acquisitions for the station at Jean Talon and Decarie shortly before and again soon after the party held a press conference to denounce that location.

Maurice Duplessis and Camilien Houde get happy

Montreal City Hall's tradition of bribing journalists

Here's an article by longtime Gazette City Editor Tracy Ludington. Who is Tracy Ludington, you ask? He was - according to Conrad Black's biography on Maurice Duplessis - instrumental in getting Mayor Camilien Houde interned during the war. Here's the anecdote as described by legendary Montreal news veteran Christy McCormick, now living in China.

"Gazette City Editor Tracey Ludington was at the core of Duplessis' wartime detention. Ludington was just out for a story and the City Hall guy came back to the office with results of a scrum talk which included a reference to not registering for conscription. Houde was in some political trouble at the time and needed to be a hero fast. Ludington, the old schemer, knew this and drafted a ringing declaration for French Canadians to not register for the draft. Houde signed the declaration and it was front paged in the Gazette. The authorities seized the paper and trucked off Houde to St. Helen's Island then a short-term detention centre. As I recall, this outcome suited Houde perfectly. He was now a hero and left all this civic problems behind him and when he got out, was made mayor again."

City hall was handing out $1,000...
By Tracy S. Ludington
The Montreal Gazette March 1, 1975
The question of bribes - paid to newspapermen to promote favourable publicity or to prevent unfavourable coverage - has been in the public eye again recently, with pros and cons flipped and flapped about as if the matter was more or less new.

Actually it is a subject that has been tossed around for more than a half century to my certain knowledge and if you want to delve into back issues of any prominent daily newspaper you will find references to it going back more than a century.

Usually there are accusations and denials, charges and counter-charges, insinuations and investigations. The most recent wave of words on the topic, touched off by Creditiste leader Real Caouette has turned my thoughts back to a situation in which I was personally involved and which even at this late retelling appears to have more than the usual number of interesting angles though it goes back some quarter of a century.
Late-lamented Telegram
I was day city editor of The Gazette at the time, and one day I was summoned ot the office of the president of the company, the late John Bassett, father of the John Bassett who until recently ran the late-lamented Toronto Telegram and grandfather of the John Bassett who now owns and operators a string of papers around Ontario.

The president of The Gazette told me that I was to go down to Montreal city hall and cover city government for The Gazette and he had one warning for me. Under no circumstances whatever was I to take any money from the city government.

Off I went to the big building on Notre Dame Street, across the road from the Chateau de Ramezay, with the president's admonition ringing in my ears. I hunted up the press room and had no sooner entered the room than I was approached by the president of the press gallery.

He greeted me cheerfully and said "You certainly arrived at the right time, we get our quarterly payment tomorrow. How do you want your cheque made out?"

I answered that while I needed money as much as anyone, I had no intention of accepting any from the city. The next day, when he was passing out the cheques, he offered me one.

When I refused to accept it, he pushed it into the top side pocket of my jacket. I took the cheque with me when I went back to the office and gave it to John Bassett. He wrote a letter to the city treasurer - a letter which said in effect that the cheque must have been made out to a Gazette reporter in error and if the error was repeated the story would have to be written and appear in The Gazette. The fact that I had refused to accept the quarterly payment made the other reporters in the press gallery somewhat uneasy. The group had been more or les swriting the same things in the same way day in and day out and now their ease of operation and maybe their payments were threatened.

Matters went along for three months and then, just before the next quarterly payment time was up, the vice-chairman of the executive committee of the city - Dick Quinn - called me into his office. After an exchange of pleasantries and a nip of Irish whiskey he came to the point. "I understand you don't take cheque," he said. I assure him I didn't.

Well," he said. "I can have the money for you in cash if you prefer."
Greeted me jovially
Since he was a friend and frequently a good source of news, I explained to him in detail that I was covering the city hall under express orders not to take any handouts and anyway no man could served two masters.

Again time went on and in addition to writing news from city hall, I had begun a city hall gossip column which appeared to have a following though at times it did bring forth rumblings from the hierarchy.

One day I was called to the mayor's office the mayor at the time being Camillien Houde. Mayor Houde greeted me proudly when I entered his office and offered me a chocolate one of his pet vices. "I have to ask you something," he said, "and I don't want you to get mad." (etc).

Mederic Martin- great article

Here's an eccentric article from 70 yrs back about former longtime Mayor Mederic Martin and his stumping techniques.
The daddy of `em All
By ASHLEY W. COOPER
Montreal Gazette 19 August 1937

In these enforced days of not-so-funny bachelordom, I was wrapping garbage in Thursday's or Friday's or was it Saturday's paper when en route to the hell box, suddenly blurted out to me that our own Camilien Houde was 47 or 48, or was it 49? Anyway, it was important.

And speaking of Mederic Martin, it just struck me what a course of sprouts that Old Master at the political game could still give to most of the windy fledglings of this smuttier age, not in police-and-gangster stuff but all about the finesse harnessed to getting elected whether le peuple wants you or doesn't. Mederic never appeared on the political horizon basking on a fluffy cloud blown up by someone who thought he'd be useful as an alderman.

He decided the sun had a place for him and went into training. Around 1885 the lanky cigar-maker bred a hunch that someone was doing dirt to the working man so he made a folding pulpit and spent evenings leaning over St. Mary street corners giving merry Hades to English millionaires and quoting his own family motto which is: "Work and be honest." By 1896 he got to be a traffic nuisance, so he jacked up the pulpit from a folder to a quick folder.

When anything sounding like flat fleet echoed, Mederic used to fold up pulpit and meeting and dash around corner where he generally stumbled over the constabulary slumbering assured the town was O.K. because all the murder was being committed on one corner. As our first it-and-runner, the campaigner learned the importance of being "Mederic" - to the boys.

He clambered to City Council where he befouled all aldermanic notions of sheer decency by keeping his mouth shut for a whole year. He's never done it since. Good thing too, for the richest and most toothsome news copy this town ever pried from one politician. For in twelve months he not only memorized the charter backwards; he also learned that all of lessons the great of these is publicity; good or bad, but publicity - so long as it's free.

His flair for getting there primped for the supreme test in 1914, when Mederic decided the mayoralty belonged to him for ever. Newspapers called him a disgrace to humanity. And the Faubourg Quebec limbered up for fun. Now the Martin finesse full-bloomed. One day he skulked into the room where Jules Crepeau went gray teaching aldermen their business, tossed on the big round table a package of 50-cents-a-thousand cards which modestly said: "Vote for Mederic Martin for Mayor." "There's my election campaign," he told us, "and you newspapers'll do the rest!"

We did. We attacked, ridiculed, harpooned, lampooned. The air reeked of Mederic and it was free reek. How we all loved it, most of all Mederic. One afternoon the sheet where I worked came out with a picture of a big undernourished gorilla in the higher branches of political ambition. It looked like Mederic. I showed him "Give me dat" he said with a grin. Sliding up to my ear, he whispered. "Joe, so long dey don't forget me, Dat's what I worry about!"

But he was only giving Lesson One. The campaign opened Sunday afternoon was the time; old St. Jean Baptiste marked t was the place. The floor buckled and the walls yelled for help as Mederic went to it.

He, shining Seigfried of St. Mary's was in danger! That eel under the rock." Hal That "committee of Five hundred. "The "Black Committee" of English who used to sit behind the damask of the Mount Royal Club, sip and plot against French-Canada and "your candidate." The quavering voice, the outstretched arms; the roars of cheering customers. In thirty minutes the eel turned out to be George Washington Stephens who was also making motions like a candidate. Ten minutes more and the eel had a butler. Bending low our Mederic used to say: "You got to M'sieu Stephen's house. The butler comes to the door. `For you, sah?' And you can't see M'Sieu Stephens.

I'm sorry, sah, but he's dining, sah.' You come to see Mederic. I come down in my nightshirt and open the door and in you come. We spit in the same cuspidor. "We used to move on to Fullum street, to the school where little Mederic first learned that Britannia may rule the waves but the three R's don't rule politics.

After gloriously weeping over the little desk that upheld his frail frame. Mederic'd call it a day. By Sunday night he was elected. He spent the rest of the campaign coasting and playing cuckoo.

Oh, that was a great game! Some poor lummox who thought he'd been born for the aledermanic purple would book a hall. Just as he was getting his money's worth there'd be a rustle like trouble in the offing, something lean and gray'd leap to the mid-stage- Mederic. Bowing low to the flabbergasted fish who'd paid the rent, Mederic would launch into profound, enthusiastic and sustained thanks to Mr. So-and So for having invited him to lift the meeting. An hour or three later, our Mederic would retire, leaving a wilted aldermanic candidate now doubtful why he had been born and a limp audience.

What Finesse! Never a sermon from Mederic; but he'd take the lads into the kitch and show `em how to kick the English packers in the pants by making their own ham. Publicity! Mederic used everything especially himself. No bands, no redfire, no paid clauqes, no hangers-on, no five bucks per reporter. Just saying things to get the papers mad then walloping`em!
Organization habitant style never a penny wasted.
One time he got $10,000 a year for two years out of a campaign that cost $160 and a pair of rubbers. He's a back number now, but he could still teach some people the one thing he learned well -how to hold the job. As I was saying, however. Houde's 47, 49 or is it 49? It's worth noting. Because she's getting ready to prove: "Life Begins Again After Forty."

Montreal restaurant has coma snapping powers

Coolopolis Chief of Skeptical Consideration Bobbey T, came into Coolopolis Towers with this menu in hand. You'll note that this restaurant is so great that somebody woke up after 40 days in a coma and the first words out of his mouth is that he wanted to chow down at this joint.. click the image to read the astonishing story.

Looks like he made it

It happens every spring. Baby birds get jostled out of their nests by their siblings -- sometimes even by their mothers. Occasionally, people will sweep an occupied bird's nest right off their balcony. For shame!
This starling chick was found on a sidewalk in Griffintown. It was fed a recommended gruel of soaking-wet cat kibble mixed with a cooked egg yolk and pureed baby porridge. It slept soundly all night but, in the morning, it cried out for the liquidey mixture approximately every half hour. It had an urgent and yet cheering chirp, which is fondly remembered. It was transported the next day to the SPCA on Gene Tallin with specifications that it be turned over to Le Nichoir, a Hudson, Quebec,-based bird rescure-and-rehabilitation centre. There were another half-dozen starling chicks on the Le Nichoir box. It was a sight to behold indeed. The little fella will grow up happy out there in Hudson. He'll be missed in Griffintown.

Rrrrrip ... from the clippings vault: Miss Dorval 1957

Miss Marcelle Cardinal was voted Miss Dorval for 1957 this past Saturday. The jury consisted of His Worship the Mayor of Dorval, John Pratt, Mrs. J.R. Balantyne, M.R.L. Earl and M.E. Sanche. Miss Cardinal was the unanimous choice. Miss Dorval was crowned on the inaugural Dorval Day. The event also coincided with the annual beautification of this important municipality northwest of the metropolis. A gold broom was presented to Mayor Pratt to mark the occasion of the campaign. On the left, we see Miss Marcelle Cardinal in the company of some of the other contestants. ON the right, Dorval Mayor John Pratt with Miss Dorval 1957. (Pp. 3, La Patrie, Monday, May 20, 1957)

Just a thought: Figure she's the same Michelle Cardinal who, according to this article, retired from teaching French in Ontario back in 1999?

Fully exposed beaver

This critter was spotted 'neat the stairs of the Westmount lookout. Hi guy!

The reason there were no posts

We hired this guy to fix our site, as you can see he fixes BLOGS as well as masonry and bricks. We wanted more nut graphs and serial contexualization. Instead he just came and smashed our computer with a sledge hammer. We weren't too happy about that but at least he did some brickwork outside of Coolopolis Towers.

The Gurds of Montreal

Charles Gurd was a Protestant Irishman who came to Montreal as a child and lived in Griffintown and watched three older siblings die in terrible living conditions before he himself triumphed and launched a hugely successful soft drink company. Another line of local Gurds were hugely influential in local medical history, although sadly the last of that line was five daughters dispersed outside the city. Here's a couple of articles about the company written during the War. Not sure when Gurds went belly up but from what I can tell the great grandson, an architect who lives here in Montreal and Vancouver, isn't hurting for cash.




Gurd's, Established in 1867 Has Developed With Nation
Montreal Standard May 15, 1943

The dominion of Canada was only ten months away from the triumph of Confederation when Gurd's beverages first made their bow to the public and Charles Gurd and Company started a corporate career, that step by step has matched the growth of this nation.

The founder, who gave his fame to the firm, came from Ireland at an early age, was educated here, graduating in chemistry from McGill University. To his new business he brought the assets of his bounding energy, enthusiasm and imagination. He had great faith in the new Dominion and he set out to show the world that within its borders could be procured ginger ales, ginger beers, soda waters and other such beverage equal to any that could be imported.

Business grew extraordinary rapidity, and the first factory located on Jurors street, now known as Vitre, soon became too small and the first of many moves of expansion began. The products grew in number; output increased rapidly. The present Bleury street plant was completed in 10912, but a final addition going up some years later. The original one-horse delivery system for local use expanded to one requiring 40 horses, which in turn was converted to a completely motorized fleet.

Outstanding among the late Mr. Gurd's qualities was his progressiveness. He wanted "The best" and saw that he got it. The syrups and essences that went into his beverages were selected with meticulous care. His plants were always the most modern in methods and equipment and the intense loyalty that he put into his business was reflected in his employees.

Gurd's founder did not confine his interests solely to his business. He considered every citizen worthy of his salt owed something to his country and community. He was extremely active in church and hospital work and took a great interest in music, being one of the original members of the Mendelsohn Choir. He was also one of the originals of the Victoria Rifles of Canada and one of the early presidents of the Dominion Commercial Travellers' Association.

Today, war conditions have imposed severe restrictions on the operations of Charles Gurd and Company. Acute shortage exist in many necessary materials but with characteristic foresight, plans were laid as far back as 1939 to counterbalance the probable effects of wartime by providing new products. A food Division was established ans is now packing large supplies for overseas as well as civilian needs.

The present Directorate of the Company is as follows: L. W. Vezina, Pres.: J. H. Murphy, Vice-Pres. and General Manager; J. E. Savard, Col. E..G. Hanson, and J. E. Labelle, K.C.

Gurd Firm marks 75 th anniversary
200 Officials, Employees Celebrate event with program and dance
Gazette 17 May 943
Long Service Rewarded -- History of Beverage Concern from Founding in 1868 by Charles Gurd is Reviewed by speakers

The three-quarter century mark in the life of Charles Gurd & Co. Limited was fittingly celebrated at the seventy-fifth anniversary dinner in the ball room of the Mount Royal Hotel Saturday night, when about 200 officials and employees of the company and their guests enjoyed a program featured by appropriate addresses, the presentation of gifts to employees for long serve records, dancing and a floor show.

L. W. Vezina, company president and director, was chairman and toastmaster of the evening. Other head table guests were: Col. E. G. Hanson, J. E. Savard, J. E. Labelle, K. C. and J. H. Murphy, directors; C. A. Girardin, secretary; R. J. Varley, treasurer; J. W. Davies, production manager; R. J. A. Perrier sales manager; Harry Smith, advertising counsel; Robert Paul, William Paul, Paul Dionne, Alex Rosa representing English-speaking salesmen; Charles Cowan, employee with the longest service; Auguste Daoust, representing French-speaking salesmen; Miss B. Owen, representing the office staff; Joe Potchinok, representing the factory staff, all the foregoing having the longest recod of service in their departments; W. J. C. Sutton, director of advertising. The Gazette: R. B. Gay, advertising manager, Montreal Standard.

Toasts were proposed to employees on active service by Col E. G. Hanson; to the guests by R. J. A. Perrier, with Paul Dionne, president of A. Dionne & Sons Limited, responding to the founder of the company, by J. E. Labelle, K. C. with J. H. Murphy responding, and to The King.

Long service awards were made by Mr. Vezina to the following: C. Cowan, 38 years; Al Daouest, 37 years, A. Ross, 36 years; E. Lemieux, 35 years, Joe Potchinok, 33 years, R. J. Varley, E. A. Owen, A. Valiquette, 30 yars; A. Payer, 25 years; R. Teasdale, 24years, W. Hayball, 22 years; E. Perron, 20 years, Leon Larivee, 17 years; W. Rivard Julmphy, 15 years; Albert Welter, 14 years; R. Barbeau, W. W. Cooke, Miss Bertha L. Owen, 13 years; F. Van Bocksile, C. A. Masson, Maurice Larivee, 12 years; A. Charette, 10 years; Thomas Schmidt, nine years; Leslie Lummis, eight years; Willie Poitras, Leo Herbert seven years; Albert Wise, Arthur Dube, M. Charlebois, Paul Belanger six years; John Daoust, five years.

Col Hanson presented Mr. Perrier, sales manager who is in charge of the Victory Loan campaign among the employees with a certificate indicating that the employees had exceeded their loan quota.

When Gurd's beverages first made their bow to the public on May 1, 1868, the Dominion of Canada was only 10 months old, fresh from the triumph of Confederacy still unco-ordinated and cautiously feeling its way towards the future. It was an age of enormous optimism, rapid expansion, vast uncertainties, magnificent plans and astonishing achievements.

Born in Edgeworstown, County Longford, Ireland, the late Charles Gurd the founder, came to Canada as a child and was educated at the Montreal High School, at Watson's Academy and at McGill University.

A man of bounding energy, enthusiasm and imagination and a believer in the future of the land of his adoption , he set out in 868 to show the world that within its borders could be produced ginger ales and other beverages equal to any that could be imported and in those early days, often made his own beverages, bottles them himself and sold them from his own one-horse delivery wagon.

His business grew with extraordinary rapidity, and the first factory, on what was then known as Jurors street (now Vite) diagonally across from the present Bleury street site of the modern Gurd plan, soon became too small and he moved across Bleury to a vacant former police station. In 1893 he had 21 different products entered in the Montreal exhibition. The old Bleury site is now the back yard of the present plan.

A new factory then sprang up behind Hermoine and Jurors streets giving place in its turn in the Bleury street plan, completed in 1912 that now houses the offices of the company, while a still more recently acquired property on Lagauchetiere street provides ample space for production.

Meanwhile the one horse delivery system for local use expanded to one requiring 40 horses and this eventually disappeared in a completely motorized system and the first pear shaped and cylinder bottles of heavy glass and the old wired-on corks disappeared in favor of modern types.

"If it can be bought in Canada we'll buy it here," was one of the principles of the business built by Mr. Gurd, whose successive plants were always the most modern of their period. This intense loyalty that he put into his business was reflected in his employees who remained and progressed with him.

He didn't confine his activities solely to business, however, but was extremely active in church and social work, and his interest in music led him to become one of the original members of the Mendelssohn Choir. He was also one of the original members of the Victoria Rifles of Canada and was one of the early presidents of the Dominion Commercial Travelers' Association.

In 1906 he turned his private business into a limited company of the closed corporation type, taking the immediate members of his inter partnership with his nephew, the late Alex McA. Murphy, as secretary-treasurer. In 1927, the business became publicly owned, when it was bought by a strong financial syndicate. Mr. Gurd remained as president until his death two years later, and was then succeeded by his nephew, Mr. Murphy, who saw 52 years' services with the firm, retiring in May and dying that same year.

With characteristic foresight and adaptability, plans were made late in 1939 to counterbalance the probable effects of wartime conditions on beverages by providing new products of timely value. A food division was established and has made marked progress and in addition to civilian business is now packing large supplies for the armed forces, particularly of hot chocolate drink.

Montreal's first sexy serveuse restaurant...

Former Coolopolis Towers security guard Mickey Arnason donated this rumpled newspaper article that he's been carrying in his empty wallet since 1975, a time when his marbles were full of juice and his jaws were covered in ivy-like mutton chop burnsides. Alas it's 2007 now and time has not been kind so certain people.

This article discusses what must be the city's first sexy-serveuse joint.

If anybody knows more about the fate of this groundbreaking local female business pioneer, a sort of minor league Martha Adams, let us know before the sand escapes down the glass.
---

Topless Waitress Restaurant Sues the City
Journal de Montreal, Friday 7 March, 1975

Mrs. Esther Deutch, owner of Gustini Steak House, an establishment in St. Leonard where the steak is excellent and the waitresses activate customers' saliva glands with their naked breasts, has laid a $200,350 lawsuit against the MUC, the police and Sgt. Denis Pepin.

In its file, Mrs. Deutch claims that seven times over the last month and particularly in October, January and February, a squad of the MUC police entered her establishment to remove staff and drive them directly to the police station.

Then, according to Mrs. Deutch, they allegedly laid frivolous charges against her young waitresses, accusing them of breaking a bylaw of the Alcohol Commission by "fraternizing" with clients.

In her suit, Mrs. Deutsch asserts that these raids caused a large loss of clientèle and she states that the authorities practiced an illegal policy of harassment.

She is suing for the damages of $200,350.

Mtl's nicest bone shack

This is recognized by one expert as the probably the most beautiful group burial site in the city. It was extensively redone recently. It is, of course at the CDN cemetery, aka the Notre Dame des Neiges cemetery.

Irish Pride lives on Terrebonne Avenue

Crack hookers plague the city

It's a shame that a small minority of cretins have to ruin the quality of life in less-well-off communities. Here's a couple of photographs of a crack hooker who has plagued Southwest Montreal for several years. All attempts to help coerce or persuade her from bringing the plague of drugs and prostitution to the streets of the city have thus far failed. She brazenly stands out on the streets trying to get picked up regardless of whether there are small children around. The police shrug their shoulders and say there's not much they can do, which is pretty lame, of course. In many neighbourhoods street prostitution has been wiped out by residents who have attacked the problem by other means. Now the southwest has an Operation Cyclops going, which urges witnesses to report the license plate numbers of the scum who pick these street cockroaches up. If you ever want to do your community a favour, call the cops 280 -01 (then the two digits of your local police station) and they'll send a letter to the john strongly discouraging him from repeating that dimwitted feat.

Montreal gets to know the automobile 1904

May 5, 1904 (newspaper unknown).
By Automobile to St. Lambert
The auto is here. It has been long in coming, and great difficulties have lain in its way, but he auto has surmounted them all. To surmount things is a marked characteristic of the auto, if we may believe the magazines.

But a short time ago Montreal was still wrapped in her hoary mantle of peace, and her poetic citizens could dream at will on the street crossings. But now this is past and gone. The tendency of the century is to discourage dreams, and the auto is one of the most potent instruments to this end. This conclusion is reached after the philosopher has had several hair breadth escapes from annihilation. Tis an inspiring moment when the brazen toot-toot falls upon your ears, and you turn to see the infernal car bearing down triumphantly. At such a crisis "Act, act in the living present!" is the motto for otherwise there will be a rude period put to the tolls and cares of life.

The automobile has certainly won an enviable position. Its popularity is world wide, and ever growing. Its range has widened. Once the mere hobby of the pleasure seeking millionaire, it is now a factor in commercial and military enterprises, and its price is gradually becoming adapted to the purse of the people. To what does the auto owe its charm? The old aborigine, when first he saw the white man spinning over the roads on a bicycle, ejaculated enviously, "Heap lazy man!" Walk sitting down." The exhilaration of motion, without th physical strain necessary to generate it, is enticing. Man wants to go fast and that is why at one time the horse played such an important part in his life. The bicycle's reign was brief, because the rider worked his own way, and aw in every additional foot per minute gained a corresponding expenditure of energy on his own part.
Auto the Great Need
The automobile brides the difficulty. The driver, with his hand on the lever, can go at lightning speed, or slow to crawling pace, and while he feels with pardonable pride the might creature beneath him in subservient will, and seeming to groan under his yoke.

etc.

Place Ville Marie, the inside story

The creation of Place Ville Marie in the mid-60s changed everything in this town. PVM inspired the migration of the city's business area from St. James Street in Old Montreal to downtown. It gave Montreal the largest building in the Commonwealth. It demolished the original and historic St. James Club. It led to a competition for the tallest building. Here are a few nuggets from inside that story taken from William Zekendorf's 1970 autobiography, which is apparently now worth $250.

By William Zeckendorf

In matters great as in matters small, around the world as in Montreal, I find it is not logic but emotions, sometimes carefully rationalized to resemble logic, that more often than not decide most issues.

We saw ample evidence of this in Canada in politics, in business and in politics-verging-on-business, where I found a strangely strict, quid-pro-quo favor-for-a-favor, an eye-for-an-eye framework of English-French coexistence.

Thus, before any street widening or property expropriations could be undertaking for Place Ville Marie (which was considered to be in the English part of town), something had to be done in the French part of town. Therefore, the multi million-dollar Berri Street tunnel and underpass had to be authorized by the city council in order to clear the way for legislation aiding Place Ville Marie.

Even the Saint James's Club episode, where Webb & Knapp publicly played the villain's role, fit into place as part of the meticulously scored Montreal game of tit-for-tat.

In our early plans for Place Ville Marie we very carefully skirted the sacrosanct site of the Saint James' Club, with the intention of building around it. After all, what newcomer seeking friends and favor would willfully disturb the office-hour rookery of some of the richest and most important old birds and most likely customer in town?

It just so happened, however, that the top French club had been razed in a previous street widening, Montreal's French administrators, after pointing out the evident flaws in our compromise site plans, flatly announced that if anything at all was to be razed for Place Ville Marie, the Saint James's Club would have to be, too.

I dislike having to demolish such fine old buildings as the Saint James' Club but, as I previously mentioned, since its razing did make good architectural sense and because I could find no workable alternative, we went ahead with the operation.

The club members naturally fought this move, but, local politics considered, it was no contest.

A Montreal cartoonist, French of course, depicted a last battle with assorted club members, umbrellas drawn, standing off the workmen and fending off the bulldozers with blasts from seltzer bottles. This pretty much told the story.

I suspect poor Donald Gordon, a Saint James' member, may have suffered some cool moments, during the last days of the club on its old site. I tried my best and went to considerable expense, to turn a bad situation into a good one. The top floors of the great tower in Place Ville Marie is two feet higher than the other floors. We designed this floor, along with its private elevator, as new quarters for the Saint James' Club.

The club membership, however, could not bring themselves to join with Place Ville Marie. Instead they took quarters in the small, most unprepossessing and expensive new building diagonally across the street from their old quarters.

The last I heard the Saint James' Club's operating costs had risen to the point that it was spending more than its annual income from dues.

Another, and quite different, instance of in-city infighting involved Jim Muir.

The longer the Royal Bank could keep any competitors from making a similar move away from St. James Street and onto the high ground in mid city, the longer it would be able to reap the advantages of being the sole bank in a modern office and new location. Therefore, Muir never publicly announced that the Royal Bank would be moving its headquarters to Place Ville Marie, announcing only that he would take space in the new building.

Muir was particularly interested in foxing another Scottish money man, McKinnon of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

But McKinnon was not fooled for long and, working with local developers, the Imperial Bank of Commerce pulled a sly maneuver of its own. It acquired from the Royal Bank the lease to a key property at Dorchester and Peel streets. They began erecting the high-rise Canadian Imperial Bani of Commerce Building, designed to compete with the Royal Bank in Place Ville Marie.

When he learned of these plans, Muir called in the bank officer, who, all unknowing, had turned over the lease to McKinnon, thus giving aid and succor to the enemy. He gave this executive such a fierce tongue-lashing that that night the shaken man toyed with thoughts of suicide. Fortunately he went back to work instead, to find Muir still bubbling furiously in the morning but no longer emitting lava.

Like it or now, we and th Royal bank were face to face with some competition.

Muir was especially delighted to learn that, by city regulations, his competitors had to provide suitable spacious parking facilities within five hundred feet of their building. If they could not, they would be required to dig down through solid rock for the four or more extra floors to supply the necessary parking area for their building.

The only available parking site was the Tilden Garage, and Muir immediately had us buy it with his money.

Eventually, I believe, the Imperial Bank of Commerce which was not without friends and influence in Montreal, was able to have the pertinent regulations "properly" interpreted so it did not have to dig quite so deeply and expensively as might have been the case.

The quite handsome Imperial Bank of Commerce Building was completed almost at the same time as Place Ville Marie and is now doing well.

The Royal Bank building, as we first planned it, was to be the tallest such structure in the British Commonwealth. McKinnon pointedly designed his building to be a few feet taller than ours.

We made no visible response, but I had Cobb design the top of the building so that, if we wished, we could add a few floors. Then, when the Bank of Commerce plans were finally frozen for construction, I added three extra floors, to once more make ours the tallest building in the Commonwealth.

Hydro Quebec's secret agenda to suppress electricity savings device

Now Hydro Quebec wants you to use less electricity. Really, for true. It's not like a beer company with their dubious ads for drinking in moderation. Less domestic consumption would allow them to sell for more on the foreign market. Here's what doesn't make sense in this scenario: one of the biggest sources of home electricity consumption is your water tank. We all have these big metal monsters that sit around day and night keeping water hot, water we may or may not use anytime soon. So every home has one or two massive kettles heating 60 or so gallons 24 hours a day. There's an energy saving alternative: tankless water heaters. These devices are popular around the world and simply heat cold water along the way to the tap. So if you have one of these small devices stapled to your wall, you can ditch your tank and only heat the water you want to use. But virtually nobody has one of these here and to get one installed requires a licensed electrician, plumber and papal benediction. Ask around and you'll find a lot of shoulders shrugging. So why isn't Hydro Quebec promoting these energy saving devices? Coolopolis got a committee together to figure out this question and after five months of deliberations came up with a draft paper with a proposed explanation. Hydro Quebec would be overwhelmed with the sudden suck of energy of everybody taking showers all at once in the morning. The tankless water heaters use less electricity, but when they're on, they'll suck their share of power, unlike water tanks which have a far more mellow approach to warming water. Quebecers would have to start staggering their showers so as not to blow the system.

Happy birthday Montreal

Montreal turns 365 today. On May 18, 1642 Paulie Chomedy Sieur de Maisonneuve, and his homey Jeanne Mance, both sporting the most outlandish of 17 th century fashions, laid anchor on the St. Lawrence & hiked to the foot of Mount Royal and founded the city of Montreal. They exchanged high fives, put up a flag and lit the pipe. So to celebrate this event, get out there and spend some money.

32 years ago the bottoms came off

May 7 marked the 32nd anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision to strike down section 170 of the Criminal Code which stated that anybody found naked or dressed in an obscene way in a public place can be found guilty of an offense. And ever since then, Joe and Josephine Sixpack have had the constitutional right to sit at a bar and ogle as much beaver as they can handle. In 1973 the Sextuple strip club opened up on the Main around Bernard (it later became the disco Eugene Patin, then the Bain Douche and then it was blown up in the biker war) .The Morality Squad was constantly on the Sextuple's case in the early days and when a stripper named Stella Quinn got busted for indecency, owner Maurice Lemieux started his historic and unforgettable fight for our right to spy naked genitalia in bars. And much to everybody's great joy, he won. The judges shot down Law 170 on the basis that 1-nudity isn't necessarily obscene 2-the legislation didn't specifically mention bars or cabarets 3-a theater or cabaret is not a public place. So anyway the Sextuple was a not-glamorous place next to a gas station, the bar had 105 dancers The owner suggested that half of them are lesbians. And all of them were bisexual. The oldest was 50, which means she'd be well into her 80s by now. So Coolopolis urges all of the less morally upstanding readers to ponder this and then find such a place and pull up a stageside seat and lean forward to exercise their hard-won constitutional right to witness the most graphic of all gynecological vistas.

Bling - Montreal's lost language

Here's a local reality you might not have known about.

In the mid 70s there was a unique language gaining steam here in Montreal.

According to a Pulse News TV report, the language of bling had sprouted up on the island. That report probably coined the term.

Bling was an organic Montreal lingo, mainly present on commercial signs. The term bling was a shortened version of bilingual.

Examples of bling were on signs that incorporated both languages into the same phrase.

The TV report featured, for example, a commercial sign that read Parc Forum Park.
If you're French it reads Parc Forum. If you're English it reads Forum Park. Everybody was happy. In fact, some were not happy. Language zealots forced radical sign restrictions on such commercial signs under Bill 101 and many bad feelings and good moving trucks ensued.

The local history of bling has been overlooked by even the pointiest headed academic. Semioticians will have something to ponder this summer while sitting by the lake and sipping their cranberry and vodkas. Some young keener now has a subject for a PhD thesis.

Bling - bring it back!

Aleskandra Wozniak battles the ball

Coolopolis doesn't like the Montreal-area's rising tennis star Aleksandra Wozniak.

Coolopolis LOVES her.

However, we've got to state the obvious here about the world's 114st best female player. This photo of her during her heroic victory of the American Jill Craybas (ranked 76) is cause for worry. While AW is an extremely kind and likeable person who answers her mail and so forth, she's got to really get in shape. She is an athlete after all and if she can't be a role model for healthy eating, then who can? Someone give that girl a bag of carrot sticks and keep an eye on her.

Messages o'erhead

Y'know you've got yer billboards, your window advertising, your newspaper ads and all sorts of other methods to draw your attention to some sorta thing, but when you've got it flying right over your head it commands a certain sort of respect, as you enter into its world, you stand literally beneath the message. Above you've got that sign letting you know you're about to experience the magic of the Ontario Promenades, that section of Ontario east of that lovely underpass which is unlike the rest of Ontario Street in that it... well...it... I guess it's pretty much exactly like the rest of Ontario Street. If someone can explain exactly what makes that section different from the rest of that high street, let us know now before it's too late. The bottom banner is a temporary thingy urging you to become better acquainted with the mental health facilities available to families. It flew over Wellington in Verdun last fall. No jokes there. Sorry.

Grand Theft Auto, '22-style

Imagine the look on old J.A. Moreau's face, when the car thief he foiled turned out to be his very own son. Another neat fact we glean from this May 15, 1922, news brief is how gun-ready the cops were. As if a chasing a stolen car through city streets at high speeds weren't hair-raising enough, they didn't hesitate to use their guns to shoot out the fleeing car's tires. Well it worked, didn't it? (By the way, 202 Christopher Columbus Street was just a few doors north of Mount Royal in those days).

Nick Auf der Maur - blood and death at Darwin's

You don't hear much about Nick Auf Der Maur these days.

He was a city councillor and newspaper reporter. A likeable guy but also capable of some extremely poor cocaine-fueled judgment. He showed epic insensitivity in siding with the evil Douglas Cohen/Robert Landau scheme to evict and demolish the lovely old greystones at Overdale and Kinkora in 1987, the famous Overdale Block at Mackay and Dorchester, a redevelopment disaster that forever tarnished Jean Dore's long-rising MCM. The heritage-worthy homes were demolished, the 100 residents - largely students, refugees and artists - were turfed out. The area now remains a hideous parking lot.

Here's a bizarre, little-known story told by an eyewitness involving Auf der Maur, blood, death and drinking at Darwin's.

It's brutal, so don't expect a chuckle at the end.

Darwin's was a homey, fern-filled bar, a lovely old greystone on the east side of Bishop just north of Dorchester. The neighbouring buildings had all been burnt down, so it stood alone as the place to be on Bishop for much of the early 80s. Sorry, can't find a photo. Can't even find out the exact year it conveniently burnt down, but '95 might be a reasonable stab.

This story is from an eyewitness, a highly-trusted source.

Nick, on that night at Darwin's, was with a distinguished short old guy, a judge, maybe about 80 years old. The judge was tiny but a bit chubby and looks a little troll-like. It was around 1982.

They were both very drunk. Nick wasn't too popular with the staff due to his reputation to sneak out on expensive bills, which the barmaids had to pay. The two were sitting at a booth. Below the booth parallel to the floor was a strip of fluorescent lights covered in clear plastic.

Somebody noticed that the fluorescent light was beaming red drops onto the wall. Soon it was evident that the judge's leg was bleeding very badly below the knee. Upon closer inspection it appears that the judge's bone is sticking right out of his leg, jutting through his skin. It was badly broken.

The pool of blood on the floor is getting quite deep and drying fast. The guy is stunned, in shock. It's unclear what caused this nasty big of business. A busboy who noticed the problem and called attention to it and made sure an ambulance came. The ambulance comes but the guy dies sometime after 1 a.m., right in the bar.

Nick, sporting his trademark fedora, ended up writing an article in the newspaper blaming the staff of the bar. Needless to say, they were none-too-happy about this.

Coolopolis couldn't find this article. The archives go back only to about '84. He did however write a non-insulting obit column for a judge named George Gould in 1985, so presumably that's not the same deal.

Capt. Kirk's original frontier

Ever wonder where William Shatner came from?
If you lamed out and said "Montreal," we'll do you one better. Here's his family address for when he was born (March 1931), care of the Lovell's Directory for 1930-31. Now here's the address for the next year. Notice anything?The Shatners changed apartments. So if you're some kinda Trekkie in the rubbernecking mood, set your phaser on stun and pop by the south side of Van Horne near Davaar (that's about four west of the metro stop). The civic numbers are still the same. Just look for the apartment block. If you absolutely can't resist knocking on the doors, remember to tell them Coolopolis didn't send you.

Bonus material! Here's the pertinent Wikipedia bit about our baby Bill: "Shatner was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Joseph Shatner and Anna Garmaise, both immigrants of Ukrainian Jewish descent. His paternal grandfather, Wolf Schattner, changed the family name... ."

Sexpo 67

Expo 67 was Montreal's summer of love -- the kind of love that some guys were all too happy to pay for.
We're talking swarms of prostitutes working the fairground -- none of whom were taxed at the 12-per-cent rate concessions had to cough up to fair organizers. (But then again, they didn't get a pavilion, did they?)
A saucy expose about Expo's angels of temptation hit the news stands 40 years ago today. (See "La prostitution s'infiltre a l'Expo.") It was only three weeks into the Montreal World's Fair, and police and staff were already wise to a network of prostitutes offering their hot'n saucy services all over the Expo fairgrounds.
These "demoiselles" were just about everywhere, but they took a particular shine to the La Ronde amusement park. The situation was such that police surveillance was boosted two weeks after the fair opened. But by mid-May, the cops still hadn't made any busts because, apparently, they wanted to learn how the prostitutes were working the crowd.
And hard work it was: despite the fact that Expo 67 attracted a good 50 million visitors, these dedicated ladies of the day and night still had their work cut out for them when trying to hook up with johns.
While the exact number of prostitutes wasn't known, the story quotes a first-hand witness who figured out how the prostitutes worked the territory.
First of all, they "flew solo," according to the witness, a supervisor of one of the rides at La Ronde. Night after night, he saw the same women returning to seek out and hook up with fresh customers.
They donned vivid colurs to stand out from the crowd and sought to catch the eyes of their prey. Word was that girls in mini-skirts made the most moolah, followed by those girls who wore "sexy pants."
One way the hookers got noticed was to flash a bit of leg on the rides, like while straddling one of the wooden ponies of the carousel. Yee haw! I bet that caught the fancy of plenty a red-blooded guy with cash burning a hole his pocket. (Hopefully, not all of it counterfeit).
This flash-of-flesh method was apparently so effective, a potential customer would often stand waiting like a brass ring, eager to be plucked, just as soon as the girl stepped down from the ride.
On a slow day, a girl might spend all everning hunting for an elusive john. In circumstances like that, she would be likely to strike up a conversation with some passing guy who happened to be alone or with a friend.
"Do you know somewhere we might have a little fun?" the girl would ask.
Such a question might well be followed by an invitation to a nearby bar. But once they stepped inside said bar, the girl would inevitably claim to dislike the atmosphere and suggest that they visit her apartment instead.
(If you're worried about the would-be john's companion, don't: a fresh girl would quickly become available for him.)
If all went right, customer and girl would then hop on the metro in the direction of Longueuil and catch a quick taxi ride to a motel or to the girl's pied-a-terre apartment on the South Shore.
The rest we'll leave to the imagination.

Photo du jour - Bridge over the tracks on Guy between St. Ant and N-D

In-famous last words

Duncan McNaughton, 78, was run over and killed by the Amerherst tram 97 years ago at Bleury and Ontario.

McNaughton had been walking with a plumber friend named James Sadler. He refused an ambulance to the hospital and returned home, dying a couple of days later. McNaughton's unlikely last words, were, according to this report, presumably what a family member told the unnamed reporter:

"I am dying as a victim of an accident that the tramway company is entirely responsible for and I demand that my heirs sue this company for damages."

What next, no dogs or Chinese?

May 1965 may have been a sizzling month for FLQ terrorists. But it was also a pretty hot time to the relative "moderates," if this article suggesting Montreal high-rises were less than respectful to the watchers-of-plays-by-Moliere is anything to go by. You know, it may be time to pack some of Charest's lingo goons into the Coolopolis time machine and send them back with French-English dictionaries for all those developers. We might be able to head off a refereudum or two. Meanwhile, here's our translation:

Downtown apartments are reserved for "English-speaking only"

Jean DESRASPES
La Patrie, week of 27 May to 2 June, 1965

pp. 16

They've been proliferating like mushrooms for several years.
They involve millions of dollars.
They can have three, five, ten, twenty or thirty storeys.
They're rarely, very rarely beautiful, because they're full of false luxuries.
They rent by the week, the month, the year.

They are inhabited in part by French-speaking Montrealers but they're offered exclusively in English.
They -- you've probably seen this coming -- are those apartment buildings that are growing like a tropical forest in downtown Montreal, in the area enclosed by Peel, Sherbrooke, Atwater and Dorchester.
All it takes is a short, half-hour stroll in the neighbourhood to appreciate how the owners of these buildings consider French as little more than quaint folklore -- reminding us of the fate of the Abenakis, whose charming and exotic vocabulary is now seldom used.
These buildings are called "La Renaissance" (complete with fake fountain and Japanese garden), the "Place St-Marc" (no doubt the thousandth place in Montreal), "The Fleur de Lys" (to appease the separatists), "The Closse" (which the English pronounce as Clossy, a testament to the level of historical knowledge), or "The Chomedy" which has been relieved of an "e" that was too awkward for those who speak anglais.
What awaits you in these apartment buildings is simply fantastic, but -- alas! -- you have to know English just to find out. I say "alas!" only to give a little rhythm to my sentence, because I'm well aware that every self-respecting Montrealer can translate in double time all the NOW RENTING and NOW OPEN signs that appear before our eyes.

Speak White!

Let's have a look, shall we?:

Now Renting -- Maintenant louant
Now Open -- Maintenant ouvert
Year-round roof top -- Top permanent a l'annee
Swimming pool -- Swimming pool
Furnished and unfurnished -- Fourni et pas fourni
Open for inspection -- Ouvert pour l'inspection
Split level -- Split level

1, 2, 3 rooms apartments -- Appartements de 1, 2, et 3 chambres
Many Luxury Features -- Plusieurs luxurieux ... gadgets
Immediate occupancy -- Immediate occupance
Elevator, FM Music -- Elevateur, musique FM
Commercial Place available -- Place commerciale avelable [sic]

And we tell ourselves that bilingualism has nothing to teach us! Actually, it's one idea to dive right into bilingualism -- at least up to the neck [this is an apparent reference to Dante; it equates bilingualism to feces in Hell -- eds.] -- to avoid such curious anglicisms. In short, all you have to do is rent an apartment in "le west part of the city."

Women fighting for the right to wash

News you can use: the movement to allow women to "bathe" in Montreal's public swimming pools started 110 years ago. Here's an article about it. (any typos still in there are mine).

Montreal Herald July 31, 1897

Mr. F. Wolferstan Thomas Favors the Proposal--Should be three of them -- A marked diminution in crime would follow - Rev. Dr. Benson and the President of the St. George's Society also express their approval --

Many prominent citizens and well-known leaders in charitable work continue to urge the necessity for the establishment of free public baths for women. Not one expression of dissent has yet been made, and the women of Montreal are unanimous in their demand that the matter receive prompt attention. The petition which has been circulated is being extensively signed, and more people are becoming interested every day

Mr. F. Wolferstan Thomas
When asked to give his opinion as to the advisability of providing the baths, Mr. F. Wolfsteran Thomas, manager of the Molson's Bank and well-known for his connection with philanthropic movements of all kinds, said: -

"The hygiene necessity of bathing conveniences for males having been recognized by the provision made is the best argument for their extension to females. In most well ordered cities the obligation of providing public baths during the whole year for a small fee sufficient only to meet bare running expenses, and even without charge in some instances is becoming general. The poorer and more congested districts of large cities are without that decent privacy which modest men and women require in taking a bath; for such as these the public baths are required. I am sanguine of belief that exemption fro ordinary or contagious diseases would be largely ensured if our poorer citizens could enjoy the use of a bountiful supply of water which should be as free to them as the air they breath. I am, too, a personal believer in the approximation of cleanliness and godliness for no one can be self-respecting if he be begrimed with dirt and covered with rags or unwholesome garments. The city would be reimbursed for its expenditure by the diminution of drunkenness, brutality and petty thieving if baths were established. They should be two, or better still, three localities, the east, west and centre, so as to be easily available.

Rev. Dr. Benson
Rev. Dr. Manly Benson, pastor of Mountain Street Methodist Church, said: - "I trust the efforts which are being made to secure the island baths for women on portions of certain days of each week will be successful. I feel quite certain that His Worship the Mayor and the aldermen of our fair city only need to have this matter brought to their attention. The city of Toronto has engaged a tug to take out barges loaded with boys across the bay, to a sand bar near the island, from which they can bathe in the cool waters of Ontario. I saw that last week several hundred boys in the lake at one time, and a large barge crowded with boys being towed across the bay to join those already in the water, while another barge was loaded with the lads who had had their evening dip and were ready to return. Two or three kind hearted policemen are detailed to care for the boys. By all means give old and young every facility possible in this direction during the summer.
(a few lines edited out for length)
Miss Barry (Francoise) whose writings are well-known expressed herself as follows: -
"I think that the petition to His Worship the Mayor and the aldermen of the city of Montreal, in view of securing for women the same privileges as are now enjoyed by men in the public baths, is a most judicious one and I hop the corporation will grant this demand immediately. It should be the duty of the gentlmeb of the Board of Health to second this petition with all their might; they know the necessity of public baths and what a boon these would be for the women, especially those who cannot leave the city during the summer for the sea side. "

A working girls' views
A working girl interested, speaking of the baths at Point St. Charles said, "We know that the baths are used freely and much enjoyed by a large number of women and girls at the Point. But there is a certain class of girls - I allude to those employed in store and factories - who cannot avail themselves of the privileges of the baths, the alloted hours not being convenient, as these girls are then engaged at their work."

This is undoubtedly true, and the only remedy at present seems to have the baths open at six o'clock in the morning, instead of nine o'clock, and so afford the girls the opportunity of taking a bath before breakfast, and before taking up the work of the day. This difficulty, however, will be overcome when we have, as we hope soon to have, public baths for women exclusively, and open everyday of the week.

A district visitor talks.
Mrs. Obling, Bible woman of the WCTU, was much pleased when she heard of the suggested free baths.

"In my district visiting among the poor," said Mrs. Ohling, I have had ample and most convincing proof that should such baths be opened it will be a blessing indeed to the hundreds of poor women and girls living in Montreal. The majority of the homes of the poorer classes have no provision whatever made for bathing. It would be a great boon and I hope that we may get them."

We're only making plans for Nigel

We've decided that it's time Nigel Hamer wrote a tell-all-splashy-fess-up-to-everything page turner.

Hamer was from a white-picket fence family on the West Island. His brother was the jock stud every girl swooned over. His mom organized major Girl Guide conferences.

But Nigel was different. Perhaps it's because his mom tried to give him a name that works in Britain but doesn't do so well this side of the ocean.

Nigel apparently fell under the spell of a McGill radical teacher Stanley Grey and soon found himself amid French separatist terrorists, helping out with the kidnapping of James Cross at his posh mansion in October 1970. Hamer's FLQ cohorts didn't trust Hamer that much though. They covered his eyes while traveling. Hey if you were a French-first separatist terrorist aiming to wipe out English colonizing scum, you'd probably do the same. So the War Measures Act was called and the troops filled the streets and meanwhile Hamer ended up taking fairly good care of Cross at a home near Pie Nine.

So when all the dust settled and various and sundry FLQ types returned from Cuba and elsewhere and did their time, it seems that Hamer did little or no actual jail time. I chatted with his lawyer a few years back and was told that in lieu of hard time Hamer did some community service, working on a Telemedicine project with folks up North.

Hamer went on to live a quiet life in Montreal, working on some sort of technical engineering of metro wheels or something, he's also listed as a guy dealing in government relations. He was in the phone book up until a couple of years ago. Some sort of Plateau address.

So how is it that someone so radical could turn out to be so dull in the end? The speculation, of course, was whether Hamer was a indeed an RCMP informant all along.
Tip On Cross suspect ignored, probe told
January 30, 1980
by Michel C. Auger of the Gazette
Police forces knew the whereabouts of an important suspect in the kidnapping of British Trade Commissioner James Richard Cross during the October crisis of 1970 and chose not to arrest him.

This was revealed yesterday at a public hearing of the Keable inquiry into police activities in Quebec.

Nigel Hamer, who was identified last year in some news stories at the sixth member of the Liberation cell of the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ), was never arrested or charged.

Witness Carole Devault, who last November testified before Keable that she had been an informer for the Montreal Urban Community (MUC) police, was on the stand all day yesterday.

She told the commission that, by the time James Cross was released on Dec. 3, 1970 she had told her police contact Det.-Lieut. Julien Giguere that a member of the group that kidnapped Cross was an anglophone student named Nigel Hamer.

She had obtained the information about Hamer from Robert Comeau, the man who approached her to work fr the FLQ. Comeau was a member of the Viger information cell that assisted Cross's kidnappers.

Hamer, she said, was in charge of maintaining the contact between Cross's kidnappers and the outside world.

By Dec. 5, 1970 - two days after Cross was released - she had told Giguere the address of the apartment on Edouard-Montpetit St. where Hamer was hiding.

"I often asked why they never arrested Hamer but I never got an answer," she said.

Commission lawyer Mario Bilodeau said at the hearing yesterday Hamer's name was on a list of four suspects that was brought to the attention of police forces on Oct. 6, 1970 - the day after Cross was kidnapped.

Hamer was not arrested by two of the four men were, only to be released after a police lineup attended by Mrs. Cross and her maid.

Bilodeau didn't give any evidence about this list of prime suspects but he did produced excerpts from a six-page report prepared in February, 1977, by Det.-Lieut. Andre Chartrand for MUC police assistant-director Claude Desautels.

The report said it would have been "elementary" after Cross' release to arrest Hamer and have him identified by the two witnesses to the kidnapping, Mrs. Cross and the maid.

The report also confirmed that by the time Cross was rleased, MUC police had a description of Hamer and knew where he was hiding.

MUC police lawyer Guy Lafrance told the comission that although Hamer was never charged, his file is still open.

In the afternoon session, Devault testified about her part in the setting up, at Robert Comeau's request, of a new FLQ cell known as Andre Ouimet.

The cell distributed a commuique and then worked on the Molotov cocktail bombing of a Brink's Express garage on Ottawa St. in Montreal.

The police were kept informed byDevault of all of the cell's activities and didn't arrest or charge anyone.

Devault also told the commission about a dynamite theft in early January, 1971 by members of the Viger information cell.

She said she informed her police contact, Lieut. Gigere, of the plan to steal dynamite at a St. Paul D'Abbotsford gravel pit.

When she heard over the radio that the theft had taken place she phoned Giguere to ask him why they hadn't stopped it but she was given no reason.

Comission lawyer Bilodeau then tabled four reports by the Quebec Police Force (QPF) - which was responsible for the inquiry into the dynamite theft - tending to show that Giguere steered away QPF investigators when they came too close tot he FLQ members.

Police physical surveillance reports showed that Viger liberation cell members Comeau and Francois Seguin were seen inspecting the area near the St. Paul gravel pit just a few days before the theft.

This information appears to have been given to QPF investigators but Giguere later told them that Comeau and Seguin were not involved and suggested they interrogate two other people who were later proved innocent.

MUC police lawyer Guy Lafrance was asked by Commissioner Jean F. Keable if he wanted Giguere or some other MUC policeman to take the witness stand but Lafrance declined the offer "for now."

The commission has agreed not to force policemen to testify about their informers and sources while the matter of confidentiality of poliec sources is before the Quebec Court of Appeal.

The commission will resume its public hearings this morning in the Palais de Justice.

Turcot & Laviolette Baths...apparently...

Phil Dunigan, 93, dropped into Coolopolis Towers to share these photos. He says one is of the Laviolette Baths and the other is the Turcot Baths. Not sure which is which. He says he taught swimming there and is trying to remember where they were, or are.According to Lovells, the Turcot Baths were at Maguire and St. Dominique, in other words, what was later known as the Bain St. Michel, which is now a place where they do plays. The other Laviolette Baths, not really sure. Who can help this old coot? I want to get him off my case.

Hunting and pecking with Coco

Ahhhhhhhhhh, 1987. We were addicted to love. We walked like Egyptians. Columnists ran childhood mugshots, cashiers expected cash (debit-card shopping was three years away), mobile phones only came in suitcases and editors expected your copy on paper -- banged out and handed in. Speaking of banged out, Douglas Leopold, late and lamented radio gossip columnist and gadabout, wrote for the weekly handout Downtowner, published Wednesdays until it -- like "Coco" himself -- went belly-up about 15 years back. Here's what Coco had to say in his effervescent-yet-improvised column, Downtown with Douglas Leopold, for September 30, 1987:

Of Versacce, Valentino & Vuarnet

I knew it was going to be a biggie when I saw Erroll Perrera racing down Mountain St. at top speed screaing "I overslept, no time to talk!" Thousands of very chic people knew better than to park anywhere near Og's last Monday. Everyone was in perfect black and understudied jewels, except one very perfect Mme. Desmarais. All the Ogilvy staff was pooped but overjoyed with the major success. Lots of imported celebs from the fashion world were pleased that Montreal finally had the beginnings of a Barney's.

Zarin Mehta was already talking about his next fund raiser with Jon Vickers. Bill Tresham pulled off the best renovation party of the decade. Pure and simple. Ogilvy's is where it's at. Highlight: Chez Catherine, Versacce and Valentino. Zuki's furs, Joan and David's shoes. Problems: the boring bijoux area and selections and not nearly enough men's stuff. No Lancôme for the gents. No high fashion for the flyées. What's a guy to do?? I'm sure they have more plans. But bravo anyways. It was some party. The taste is close to perfect. The sense of style will make the other stores scurry.

I have become instantly addicted to a new magazine called Traveler by Condé Nast. Their first issue is brilliant. Great writing. A sort of jet set guide and diary. And lots of bargain ideas. Examples: Air France from here is offering two for ones to Paris. Always ask for the corporate rate when booking your hotels. They rarely ask what company you're with. Always call the airlines a number of times for the cheapest rates. The rates change daily because computors (sic) know when to discount empty seats. There is a Paris art card available at banks to get into all th emuseums without lineups. That's a good idea for our musées. American Airlines has the least passenger complaints. Continenatal had the most. Budget in Beverly Hills has all BMWs. Local rent-a-car could check into this one too. There is a malaria warning in Africa these days.

The new play of the season is Phantom of the Opera in New York. Les Miserables has a three month waiting list. London's hottest play is Les Liasons Dangereuses. Zagat Surveys lists all the best spots in New York and they are reviewed by an army of normal people instead of difficult food critics who've overdosed on one too many morsels. Yes, Matilda, there is an expedition available to Tierra del Fuego (another gossip columnist's favourite place). You get the South Pole thrown in for good measure for a mere $35,000 US (airfare not included). Only 3% of Canadians go abroad. A rather astounding figure. Youcan charter a Concorde (one way) to London (neat idea for a birthday right?) for $160,000 US. That will get them talking. There is also a charter from Edmonton Alberta to the North Pole for only $10,000 (two reasons now to avoid Edmonton). Australians spend the most in the US, $1,666 per person and Canadians spend the least ($270 per trip). That's still a lot of sheet and wine in Plattsburgh. Best tourist camera (the Rolls of the species) the Leica-R-5 $1,850 (no lens), and the newest rage: Shark diving in the Rangiroa atoll North East of Tahiti (the things you learn in this column). Ask for the Tuamotu Islands please. What was not included in Traveler was that there are horrendous waits on the runway in Torontobecause they are building another runway. So if you are in a rush to get back (and so you should be) book an earlier flight.

Disco downtown is reporting slow business during the week. Where is the action anyway? Restaurants, videos, take-out... We'll do a full report very soon (biggest take-out: Pizza).

Big bravo goes to the Dubonnet Fashion Awards and to the kids who participated. Jean Claude Poitras certainly came of age and showed a collection that could be well received anywhere.

O'Tokio received their new Matsuda collection with a series of in-house parties. Patisserie Gascogne (one of the best) will open a second pastry palace. Au Bon Croissant told me in no uncertain terms that they take no cheques and no credit cards. Have you seen what a cake goes for these days? And Bernard Hotel de la Montagne will open a 400-seat bar and restaurant called Crocodile in the Cote des Neige (sic) area. Happy Yom Kippur.

Save our dollarscape!

Remember all the hullaballoo when that dumpy Warshaw shop got turned into a clone Pharmaprix and St. Lawrence lost an old familiar sign? Never again, we say. Now's your chance to help save Montreal's dollar-store heritage. This buckshop on the Main north of Roy is destined for the wrecker's ball soon. But you can help save it by chaining yourself up to the door. Preserve our heritage. Act fast. May the buck stop with you!

Montreal's flag blows

This is the flag of Montreal. Adopted in June 1935. Contains the beautiful English Rose, and three other forms of flora no stranger to weedwhackers all over - some sort of Irish weed, Scottish thornbush and the French poison ivy. Two anglos and two francos were on the committee that chose this as the flag, which was based on the city's coat of arms from c. 1835. (I read a report that the coat of arms was officially adopted in 1938 and the flag in 1939, but there's evidence that it happened earlier). The transition from coat-of-arms to flag was not kind to the beaver, who appears to have been jettisoned from the highest ledge possible. Maybe getting rid of the little ol' beaver was considered a way to keep Canada on the backburner, but it sure seems that the three anglo groups got a lot of space on the flag, all things considered, the French, on the other hand just get a measly one quarter of the pie.

Houde defended the flag, saying it would be good for tourists. One priest, an old guy named P.J. Leduc from Ahuntsic went to city hall and said he'd prefer the city flag be a Union Jack. "Until the day another revolution places us under a domination other than English, or until we got an indepedent political regime." He was, in other words, not just a priest, but also a separatist.

Mayor Jean Drapeau came out with that cookie cutter city logo in 1981 at the cost of $330,000, it's a flower in which each of the petals contain a V and a M, for Ville de Montreal. It's still used on letterheads and such. The official version had the words "Ville de Montreal on it" but Gerald Tremblay rejigged it at the cost of $12,000 in 2003, getting rid of the "ville de" bit as a way to keep the new West End municipalities on board, an effort which proved ultimately futile.

Lots for not lots

Fifty cents a foot. That's what building lots could have been had for on Park Ave. between Bernard and Van Horne in 1910. How big's a typical lot? A thousand square? That doesn't add up to a lot of bagels. Virgil! Start the time machine! (Figure they'll accept loonies?)

From castle to chateau

Andrew Frederick Gault (1833-1903) was a stankin'-rich, Irish-born dry-goods merchant, industrialist and philanthropist. Gault was sometimes known as the "cotton king of Canada." But things weren't always so light and fluffy. Shortly after his family immigrated to Canada in the early 1840s, his dad died of cholera. By 1844, big brother, Matthew Hamilton Gault, was head of the household. The family was running a grocery shop at Prince and Wellington at the time. Pretty soon, Matt got into insurance and Andy went into business for himself, further boosting the Gault family fortunes. His funky HQ is today billed as a four-star boutique hotel. Anyway, Andrew Frederick used to live at this joint (see above), which he called Rokeby. But don't bother looking for it now. It was torn down along with most of the other Sherbrooke St. mansions and the lot was developed as the site of the Chateau Apartments. So if you go snooping around, Keith the doorman is likely to clunk you.

Little old lady who?

They say that songbirds, like bumblebees, are getting harder to find these days. If the story of Jeannine Levesque is anything to go by, we'll vouch for that.

At one time, Levesque was a bona fide yodeling sensation who packed the halls with her French-language renditions of Tyrolean classics. Now that takes lungs, meine damen und herren. In her heyday, she was known as "la reine du chant tyrolien."

Seriously.

Apparently, Levesque developed her taste for beer-hall singing from her grandmother, who used to warble all the Alpine classics. After winning lots of prizes as an amateur, she launched her professional career in the late 1950s. By the early '70s, however, most of the nightclubs she worked at -- like the Cafe du Nord here in Montreal -- were closed. And so went her bread and butter.

Alas, Jeannine! Where are you now? Anybody gotta clue?

Foto du Jour - Craig (aka St. Antoine) looking West from Bleury

Coolopolis apprentice photographer Jorge Jezenne is a bit hard to tolerate. I don't know which is worse, his dandruff or the clumping sound of his wooden leg on the floating floors of Coolopolis' Towers. He does, however, have one thing going for him: a time machine. He went back in time and shot these lovely photos yesterday. The guy in the lower picture just stared at him and his time-traveling vehicle.

Barbara Ann Scott gets keys to city hall

Canadian figure skating heroine Barbara Ann Scott popped in from Ottawa a little while ago to sign the book at city hall. Love her giggling hen entourage. Buncha drunks born too early for GGW's cams. Also, nice posin' in the 2nd foto by Mayor Houde. Houde was surely nervous that the anglo oppressors were going to toss him back into the internment camps.Don't ask me about the bottom foto. No idea.

The dealio behind that weird house on Marie-Anne

This is the Maison Coloniale at Coloniale and Marie-Anne erected in 1990 by Jacques Rousseau, who is also known as the designer of the nightclub Business, which led the rush of nightclubs to the Main after it opened in 1986. He called it Colonial House as a tongue-in-cheek reference to its feral appearance on the triplex-laden Plat-o. According to those who went inside in the early days, it's laden with catwalks and the risk of falling is so great that there's all sorts of things to grab onto in case you tumble. It was billed as being perpetually under construction. There are metal columns and the garage opens with a drawbridge, the main floor is said to be like a "captain's bridge" according to a Gazette article dated May 5, 1990 written by Ricardo L. Castro of McGill University.

Photo du jour - Jack Carter Square and Bonsecours street

The top photo is the West side of Place Jacques Cartier corner St. Paul. You note how Theo's (owned - in 1938 anyway - by T. M. Nesrallah) has all English signs while his neighbour Kaufman does his all in French. Vive la difference. The bottom photo is, of course, that fabulous vista onto the Bonsecours Catholic Mind Control Centre. That one required quite a bit of retouching at the Coolopolis photo lab. The graphics staffers billed us for a hell of a lot of overtime, including 2 cases of Red Bull.

Quebec's most successful clans - an attempt to analyze 'em

Kwebeck's social history is one of a relatively small bunch of families breeding like rabbits so as not to be overwhelmed by anglo dominance.

The baby-making strategy was ditched and they went the legal/political route in the mid 70s, but it can be said that some clans did pretty well at the old breeding game.

The kings, of course, are the Tremblays, who went forth and multiplied more than any other. Here, from wikipedia, is the list of the 20 most common names in the province Tremblay (1.13%) Gagnon (0.82%) Roy (0.77%) Côté (0.74%) Bouchard (0.56%) Gauthier (0.55%) Morin (0.51%) Lavoie (0.49%) Fortin (0.47%) Gagné (0.47%) Pelletier (0.45%) Bélanger (0.44%) Bergeron (0.41%) Lévesque (0.41%) Simard (0.38%) Girard (0.37%) Leblanc (0.37%) Boucher (0.35%) Ouellet (0.34%) Caron (0.32%)

Success is subjective. The number of children one clan produces cannot be deemed the single criteria for a success, even in the historical context of Quebec.

One could probably analyze the average income of Quebec residents with those surnames, but that data isn't readily at hand. There is however, another method to analyze the relative successes of the various clans: Hockey.

It's the national sport, after all and a wide variety of people throughout the province play the game. So if we measure the number of NHL games played per clan, we could get a whole new way of measuring the relative successes of each family. I've started to crunch the numbers but am not convinced that my source is sufficiently accurate.

My initial 15 minutes of research suggested that these are the totals of NHL games played per clan for a few of the families: Tremblay 2615 Gagnon 259, Roy 1573, Cote 6 (six games? - doesn't sound right).

As the photo suggests, some of the clans don't always get along even when they're on the same team, the hockey Tremblays and the hockey Roys certainly didn't see eye to eye in the 90s.

So there's work to be done to crunch these totals. I'll get in there over the weekend and make a more exhaustive and formal analysis of the best hockey names in Quebec. Any help, comments, research tips would be appreciated, pop it in the comments if you got 'em.

Nepture International anybody?

Neptune International was launched in the 70s and seems to have been a briefly-influential global organization for gays. It was launched from a bar on Common Street, (the same bar that James Earl Ray claimed he was approached by the man who led him to kill Martin Luther King). The exact notions or individuals behind Neptune International are unclear, there was a brief mention of it on the internet a couple of years ago but it seems to have disappeared. If anybody knows more, please feel free to contribute it in the comment section or courier a package to Coolopolis' HQ.

The fastest growing sport in the world Mixed Martial Arts - and its Montreal connection

On April 7 about 4,000 people stood cheek to jowl at PJs bar on St. James Street West to watch local-hero-in the making Georges St-Pierre defend his title for the first time on a pay per view event from Houston. The sport is MMA, it's a sort of no-holds barred wrestling-boxing-kung fu deal but it's not as brutal as it sounds. The crowd watched the Montrealer St-Pierre, who trains in a gym near Decarie - go down unexpectedly to underdog Matt Serra. It was a bit of a bummer considering that the Habs had just been eliminated a couple of hours before. But St-Pierre shall bounce back. The sport of MMA has a big Montreal connection. In the states it was grown by two rich kids who tossed a bunch of cash at it, through the UFC. The UFC's big breakthrough being a TV reality show devoted to the sport on the Spike TV network.

A Coolpolis staffer wrote this week's Financial Post Magazine cover story on Stephane Patry and his TKO MMA. Patry quit a good job to devote his life to developing the sport and had many rough years in the proverbial forest of poverty. He now manages a bunch of fighters who battle in the UFC and he also hosts a few events a year at the Bell Center which attract around 10,000 people.

There are gyms all around town teaching this stuff and it has largely supplanted the traditional martial arts, it's not a bad sport to watch either if you're into that sort of thing. A lot of people are very keen on the sport and the rest of the world have never heard of it. Check out the link to learn more.

Is Adam Ant moving to Montreal?

As you might know, Coolopolis Senior Domestic Correspondent Kristian appears for about 10 minutes every Monday night on Team 990 in Montreal, in a regular segment called Off the Wall. On the last round, Kristian (why am I referring to myself in the third person again?) ... I argued that the presence of celebrity, whether we like it or not, is a highly-underrated element in making a city.

How much mileage has Montreal received from the fact that William Shatner, Leonard Cohen, etc, come from here?

How is it so many were so fascinated that pretty boy David Usher chose to call this town home for a few years?

So whether you care about celebrities or not, others do and it puts the buzz on a town.

I argue that for much less than the cost of some other civic-minded gimmick, such as building a baseball stadium for a professional sports team, a city like Montreal could simply pay celebrities to move here.

Imagine the massive publicity if Justin Timberlake decided to move here tomorrow. Whether you'd care or not, it would be a huge deal for Montreal. Such a high-profile celebrity located here would confer Montreal with a huge amount of prestige. This might seem ridiculous but it's not all that far from Richard Florida's hugely-influential Creative Class ideas which suggest that cities gain when they attract art-oriented yuppies and gays.

Now assuming that such an A list star would probably be too expensive, I suggest that we could nab a few lower-level celebs. For example Bauhaus front-man Peter Murphy spent several years living in Turkey and has gone into detail about this at length in just about every interview he gives. Maybe we could get him to move here. He might do it just for a few grand.

Even cheaper: Adam Ant. He'd give Montreal a whole lot fewer degrees of separation to the whole 70s London punk era. He's also a poster boy for mental health, as he's battled mental illness for decades. He's also unpredictable, he pulled a fake gun on people in a pub in 2002 who were mocking his outlandish clothing. How could you say no to that?

Even Kevin Mooney - the idiot bass player who tries to upstage Adam in this video of a lip synch performance in front of the Queen - speaks reverently of Adam to this day. (Mooney got the boot from the group minutes as soon as the curtain went down). So I'm setting up a fund to try to raise some cash to get Adam to move to Montreal. Please contribute. I've written to Adam through what may or may not be his website.

Hi, I'm trying to start to raise money for a
fund to get Adam Ant to move to Montreal, for
a couple of years at least. Would it be
possible to ask Adam how much money would be
required to get him to move over here for a
couple of years? I thought that this would be
a good thing for our city to have someone as
interesting and creative and famous as Adam
Ant living here. This is a serious question
so please let me know. Many thanks, 

So Coolopolis' campaign to get Adam Ant to Montreal has now begun. Please do your part to support it.

Quiz du jour

Who is this and why is he such a big deal to so many Montrealers?
Clue 1-He's probably never actually been to Montreal...yet .
Clue 2-He's not quite as young as he looks (he was born during the Iran-Contra hearings and the Jim Bakker scandal).
Clue 3-The place he's from is way ahead of us, seven hours to be exact.

TIME'S UP! HERE'S YOUR ANTWORT!
The individual pictured above is expected to be Montreal's next great hockey player. He's Sergei Kostitsyn, the younger brother of Habs prospect Andrei Kostitsyn. Like his brother, his job is to insert rubber disks into woven fabric held together by red pipes. It's something that this fresh-faced pride of Novopolosk does so well that he scored 40 goals in a mere 59 games for the Junior London Knights hockey club. He added 91 assists, to make for well over two points per game. He's expected to play in Hamilton in September and perhaps join his older brother on the Habs in September 2008.

As a semi-irrelevant aside, has anybody else noticed how the Habs go for players with cool names? We have a player named Bonk, another named KosTITSyn, another named Alexander "Parishilton" Perezhogin, Guillaume "Tender Willie" Latendresse

Wha'ts your favourite line about Montreal or by a Montrealer?

What's your favourite line either written by a Montrealer... or about Montreal?

This is my current fave, written by that guy in his mid-50s who always hung out at Bagels Etc. a place where I got kicked out of the bathroom for naughtiness. The first sentence sports a ring of modern resonance. (altho small qualm, later in the song he says "I don't like your fashion business mister..."... and yet in interviews he constantly goes to bad for sharp, formal dressing, a legacy of his father being in the Montreal clothing trade.)
---

They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom for trying to change the system from within.
I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them. First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin.

Quiz: What's my line?

Sweet logo, huh? Kinda sharp. Edgy and penetrating but definitely not the kind of thing you want to see in the shower. Nevertheless, this ready-to-plunge dagger was the public face of a longstanding Montreal company. You don't have to name the company, that would be asking too much. All we want to know is what line -- i.e., what product or service -- was the company in? Full ad to follow. Best guess wins a kudo. Care to take a stab?

UPDATE: O.K., time's up, lards and losses. Guesses included (hyuck!) an ice dealer and a letter-opener-maker. So kudos stay in the kudomidor. The trademark was that of Mysto, an exterminator that in 1948, was located on Masson St. (Click ad for fullsize.) They promised to suppress any rodent or insect problem, including cockroaches, mites, mice and fleas. Y'know, with all the computer-assisted design around these days, you really can't beat these old-fashioned, handmade creations. EEEEEK a mouse!

Potholes ain't what they used to be

Think we got potholes these days? Take a gander at this doozy. It nearly swallowed a loaded truck owned by Watson Jack's wholesale pharmaceutical supplies as a curious crowd of tittering onlookers peered snickeringly.

The pathetic spectacle unfurled on Craig St. (now St. Anthony) less than one million hours ago, at nine a.m. on May 1, 1907. The pothole was so deep, we almost lost an expensive potholometer. The story goes that the hole was caused by a load of unstable earth covering a new drainage pipe that had been installed to serve the nearby Power Co. headquarters.

U figure he made it?

Coolopolis intern photographer Diego Delugo showed his poor judgment and poor taste by photographing this stressed-out woman watching a loved one getting towed away in an ambulance, we castigated and admonished him endlessly for his brazen disregard to human suffering, then we made a bet on whether the old guy pulled through, anybody wanna ring that woman's doorbell on St. Hubie below St. Cath and ask?

Fotoz du jour - some things remain unchanged....the Verdun Aqueduct