This week in…

1833: The Hallowell Free Press (soon the Picton Gazette) reports a mail robbery: “This robbery was effected by William Ewings, the son of the postmaster at Benlock, a new village lately started up between this place and Colborne. Ewings, a mere lad, was left in charge of the Post Office on the day that the Money Letter was forwarded from Cobourgh to Kingston; and took advantage of the circumstance to abstract from the Mail the Kingston Bag, being careful to destroy the whole of it, except the Money Letter. He and another boy, a confederate of the name of Crown, are under examination and will doubtlessly both be immediately committed to the District gaol, the money having been found in their possession.”

1863: A fictional story, “Paul Jenkins: A Tale of Love and Hair Dye,” by Caroline F. Preston (a known pen name for Horatio Alger, Jr.), begins: “Mr. Paul Jenkins would have been a happy man but for a single circumstance. That circumstance was the perverse determination of his hair to turn gray, when he would decidedly have preferred to have it remain its original color, a glossy black. This it was that embittered his existence, in spite of his good health, good income and prosperity in other respects. This it was, as Mr. Jenkins conjectured, which stood in the way of his acceptance by Sophronia Jones, with whom he fancied himself wildly in love.” Read the full story here.

1933: When are young chicks hens? This is a question which is puzzling Mr. J. G. Dusenbery, of Carrying Place, after bringing two eggs in two days from the nest of a young pullet hatched March 13th of this year. The second egg was in fact a full-sized egg which would easily pass among any average eggs. How soon do pullets lay? The common idea seems to be that the chicks must be at least five and a half to six months old; but this enterprising young fowl, who has laid her first egg three days under the four-months mark, has apparently set a local record. Who has or has had a pullet to beat this record?

1993: The OPP hope to identify the two motorists who helped resuscitate a one-year-old infant. On July 7, police received report that an infant had fallen into a swimming pool on Salmon Point Road and had been retrieved from the bottom by his parents. A passing car was flagged down and its occupants revived the infant within artificial respiration before emergency crews arrived at the scene. The child was transported to PEC Memorial Hospital, held for observation, and has since recovered from the ordeal. “The two passersby were instrumental in the survival and recovery of the infant and the police would like to thank them for their efforts.”