Charles Havelock Taylor 1859 - 1953

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From Whence He Came

This site is devoted to the inventive genius of Mr. Charles Havelock Taylor. The information contained in this historic account is taken from engineering journals, family photo albums and the personal memoires of two families.

Born in Chatham New Brunswick January 20, 1859, Charles was the eighth child and first born son of Mary (Palmer) Taylor born 1820, died 1906 and Charles Taylor born 1817, died 19??. (left)

The Taylors were one of the pioneer families from England, who first settled in New York State in 1710. During the American Revolution the family joined many other United Empire Loyalists and moved north to New Brunswick.

His Father, pictured above with wife Mary, was a saw-mill contractor. Charles' stay in the Chatham area was short as when his father completed the building of a mill, the family moved on to the next location. The constant moving affected his schooling although it is known that during his boyhood he attended school in Matapedia, a small logging settlement, which is on the border of New Brunswick and Quebec, and at Kedgwick near by. (photo at right is a family gathering in New Brunswick).

At the age of 12 Charles' family moved to Levis Quebec a sleepy little village overlooking the picturesque "Old" City of Quebec. To attend school he had to cross the river. Winter was the only time when the river could be safely traversed. As a result the school year was short and his formal education terminated at spring break-up. He acheived the level of 6th grade before he was forced to quit for good.

In 1876 his family moved to Montreal. It is here that that he embarked upon a career that would lead to great feats of engineering. His father won a contract to construct a section of the Lachine Canal.

Being a self-educated man and possessing strong analitical skills Charles began his work career with his father. It was not long before Taylor's entrepreneurial skills and ingenuity came to the forefront. He contracted for the task of pumping water out of excavation sites while work on the canal proceeded. Up until this time only steam driven pumps were used for this type of work but for Taylor and his creative mind there had to be a better way. He struck upon the novel idea of siphoning off the water. He offered to do the work for a mere 20 dollars a day, much below cost of the steam pump used at the time. His method was absurdly simple and Charles was able to sit back and reap the benefits of his idea. Twenty dollars a day was a lot of money at a time when the economy of the country had fallen on hard times. He generously used his new found wealth to help his father and the family.

Acknowledgements: Richard Hillary (grandson of CH. Taylor) as well as Roy and Charles (Bud) Taylor (sons of CH Taylor) .

**** NOTE **** The comment section has been reopened "PLEASE DO NOT POST LINKS or OTHER GARBAGE" I will shut down the comment section permanently if you do.

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The First Family

In 1880 Charles, while living in Montreal, met and married Helen Maria Pye (born 1866; died 1929). Helen bore Charles (seated) three children Eva born 1883; died 1962 (wearing hat) Arthur Havelock born 1894; died 1964 and Helen born 189?; died 1921.
In 1905 the family took up residence in Haileybury Ontario while Charles built the Air Plant at Ragged Chutes.

Eva married Robert (Bob) Turner Andrea in 191? in Haileybury Ontario. Bob had come to Cobalt in 1909 after completing his post secondary education at the General Electric Technical School in Schenectady NY. He first came as inspector of air meters in the silver mines and later became chief engineer for the Northern Ontario Light and Power Company.

This was at a time when Charles H. Taylor was constructing the Ragged Chutes Air Plant to supply the burgeoning mining industry in Cobalt Ontario.

Eva and Bob moved to Montreal in 1928 when Bob was appointed statistian for the Power Corporation of Canada. Eva was a skilled concert pianist and played at the Cobalt Opera House in the early part of the century.

In 1911 Arthur was sent off to school at Feller Institute in Grande Ligne Quebec where he played hockey (back row, far right). After completing his education Arthur remained in Montreal where he met a young French Protestant girl, Jeanne Piche, whom he married in 1917. Jeanne and Arthur purchased a farm in Three Hills Alberta in 1919 and set out to try their hand at farming. Jeanne bore Arthur a son, Russell, who died within four months of his birth. Then in 1921 Francis Kathleen (my mother) was born. In 1924 Jeanne had another son whom they again named Russell. The boy was born with a birth defect and passed away in 1933.

Arthur and Jeanne were benevolent people and were known to take foster children. One of their children, Herbert Harrison Taylor, came to live with them as a young boy. Once Herbert became of age he was given the opportunity to chose his parents, just as they had chosen him. Herbert opted to be a Taylor and I was priviledged to have an uncle.

Helen, the youngest child of Charles and his first wife remained in Haileybury and in 1916 she married Grahame Hennesy. Helen's health was not good and by 1920 it had become quite serious, she passed away in 1921.

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The Second Family

In 1910 while on a trip to England Charles met a young girl by the name of Gertude Mabel Morgan. Smitten by her beauty he brought Gertrude to Canada. First family rumor and inuendo has it that Gertude was brought to Canada as a housekeeper. Like all stories of this kind it is tempered by age and literary license. Neither family knows for sure what the circumstances were.

None the less Gertrude and Charles were married in Buffalo New York in 1911. They came to Toronto Ontario to live and, for the first year, they occupied a suite at the Prince George Hotel. The following year they moved to a house on Wolfrey Avenue.

Gertrude and Charles had 5 children together, Sylvia born 1915, Charles Havelock (Bud) born 19??, Phyllis born 19?? ; died 1941, Roy born 19?? and Ray born 19?? (deceased).

Note: I am awaiting photos and additional information with regard to the second family.

Lifes little ironies:

In the summer of 2001 I was in contact with the Cobalt Ontario Museum discussing a photo album I have depicting the town from 1905 to 1910. Cobalt has been awarded the distinction of being the "Most Historic Town" in Ontario. During the period from 1905 to 1910 Charles H. Taylor designed, engineered and built the Ragged Chutes Air Plant on the Montreal River.

During this conversation I was asked about Charles accompishments after he had left my great grandmother Helen. Jokingly I responded that he would have to contact the other side of the family. Ironically less than 3 weeks later I received a call from the museum and a voice says " I have good news" then he says "well I'm not sure if you will think it is good or bad", "I heard from the second family", "They would love to hear from you". Since that day we have exchanged stories, pictures and the occasional phone call.

At that time I spoke to Terry Mandzy the husband of Joan Taylor the daughter of (Bud) Taylor. We had great plans to get together but as life would have it we have yet to meet. However, my mother Francis Taylor Hawkins was visiting me here in Burlington Ontario and while returning to Quebec we were able to visit with (Bud). Interestingly Bud is nearly the same age as Francis but in the scheme of things Bud is her uncle.

And for the record, I recognized Bud as he stood in the picture window of his home, he is the spitting image of my grandfather Arthur, the first born son of Charles Havelock Taylor and his first wife Helen.

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1878 to 1895 The Formative Years

Charles Havelock Taylor was not a man of idle mind nor body, he kept busy with work and with hobbies. His favorite hobby was photography an art that he was to become quite adept at. He carried the heavy bulky apparatus wherever he travelled recording his work, nature and the people he came in contact with. The photos contained in this blog are those taken by Charles between 1895 and the 1920's. This hobby remained a source of pleasure for him throughout his life.His business career during this period of his life reads like a best selling novel.

In the early stages of his career, mining was a prominent part of his life, and became the stepping stone to his success.

In the early 1880's he began a 10 year term as Mining Claim Investigator for his uncle, who owned the Howard Watch Company of New York. This position led to much travel throughout most of North America.At one point he was sent to North Carolina to investigate placer gold mines and was so taken by the heat and humidity that he nearly fainted while walking from the train station to the mine head. One has to realize that at this time in our history men wore shirt and tie, a botany serge suit and vest as well as a hat at all times when at work.

Then in 1891 he was sent to the Cripple Creek gold discovery in Colorado. Some 50,000 people swarmed into the area, near Pike's Peak, in search of fame and fortune. These were the days of opportunity and wealth however there were those who conspired to take advantage of the nieve money hungry newcomers. While investigating these mines, he saw many instances of salting, a practice whereby mine owners spread gold particles around mine shafts. This was done to entice unsuspecting buyers into purchasing an otherwise worthless mine.

During this period in his career he also acted as a consulting geologist for several mining concerns. Charles had an uncanny ability for tracing lost ore veins in mines. At this time he started building an extensive mineral collection and over the years he gathered some remarkable ore samples.

His interest in this field did not wane. Around 1890 he discovered a gold vein in Madoc, Ontario. He built a mine and operated it for several years before selling out. At one point in the 1880's he built and owned Montreal's first steam laundry. Later on he and two business associates built a skate factory. The machines and skates were designed and built by Taylor himself. With this practicle knowledge of mechanics and engineering he some became known as a qualified engineer.

With each adventure Taylor gained greater insite into the mining industry and it is here that his greatest acheivements would eventually be realized.

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1895 to 1914 From the Smallest Observation Came a Great Invention

In 1895 while building a dam in Buckingham Quebec Taylor noticed that air bubbles that were trapped in the water as it flowed over the spillway were carried under the ice and formed ice domes. When he broke one of the domes with a pipe he realized that the air was pressurized. Insignificant as this may appear to some, Taylor's mind was quick to grasp the industrial possibilities of this phenomenon. He made a working model of a compressor in a warehouse in Montreal. Glass tubing was integrated int the model so that all could see the operation of the machine and as experiments progressed modifications could be made to enhance efficiency.

Charles courted prominent businessmen from the period and, after a demonstration of the models ability to generate compressed air, he was able to build the first of his Air Plants with monies obtained from the investors and the Taylor Air Compressor Company was started.

The first plant to be built was at Magog Quebec for the Dominion Cottom Mills (later to become dominion Textile). It was a 155 horsepower compressor delivering air at 52 lbs. per sq. inch. It was 60% efficient and was still in operation in 1953. It was not untill the mid 1970's that an engineer from the US advised Dominion Textile to upgrade their weaving equipment rendering the compressor obsolete.

Then in 1898, at Ainsworth B.C., he organized the Kootney Air Supply Company and built a 600 H.P. compressor supplying air at 100 p.s.i. this required the construction of a 1354 foot closed wooden flume to develope enough water pressure. It was intended to supply the Kaslo Mining Co., a new copper mine.

The Great Northern Railroad did not build its promised spur line to the mine and so the compressor closed down. Taylor paid the $60,000 dolar construction costs to the financial backers out of his own pocket. This was a severe setback to his plans.

An order from the Dominion Government for a 45 H.P. compressor for the Peterborough Lift lock on the Severn Trent waterway in 1899 helped the company out.

The Hydraulic Air Compressor - a brief history

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The following is an extract from a thesis written by Roy G. Taylor son of Charles H. Taylor and Mabel Morgan. The thesis was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Applied Science.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,

University of Toronto,

Oct. 31, 1951

Roy is a member of Charles Taylor's second family. He acquired his Engineering degree and worked in the family business with his father Charles H. Taylor Sr. and his older brother Charles (Bud) H. Taylor until they closed down the business. Roy has since retired but has remained both active and creative.

History:

It may be of interest to the reader to know at least a brief history concerning the developmentof this compressor, therefore at this point I will present a review of the major events that led to its first successful application.

One of the earliest forms of compressed air devices had its origin in the early years of the iron age and was known as the trompe or hydraulic air blast for forges. Its purpose was to supply the Catalan forges with a steady blast of air. The preassure produced in this type of compressor were of a very small magnitude being in the neighborhood of one ounce (1 oz.) to one pound per square inch (1 lb./sq. in.) The best type of construction in trompe mechanism was one wherein the range of the apparatus could be produced by means of a sliding gate. The operation of the apparatus may be explained by referring to figure 1. Water falling into the tube draws air through the small inclined holes, indicated by arrows, and carries this air down into the reservoir where the air separates from the water and escapes to the forge. The outlet column is high enough to balance the pressure maintained in the reservoir.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/1977-07-01/Harness-Hydro-Power-with-a-Trompe.aspx

In the year 1877, Mr. J.P. Frizell carried out tests

of a practical scale on this system utilizing a 5 ft. fall and a 36 ft. shaft at the falls of St. Anthony near St. Paul on the Mississippi River. From his tests he proposed a system known as the Frizell system, see figure 2., for which he secured patents. Later compressors were somewhat similar to this system but the actual design involved was quite different in certain respects.

The next major step was made by Mr. C. H. Taylor in 1896 at Magog, Quebec where he erected the first working hydraulic air plant on a practicle scale. The Taylor plant, although essentially utilizing the method outlined by Frizell, was materially different in detail and proportioning of the various parts of the plant. It may be noted here that Mr. Taylor discovered the principle himself by noting how water flowing down the spillway of a dam carried a certain amount of air with it as it plunged under the surface of the river ice. This air carried downstream by the flowing water, released itselt from the water and formed large pockets of air under the ice. This caused the ice to bulge upwards and when he broke one of the pockets and discovered that air under pressure was trapped here he also discovered this principle that he put to much use. Thus independent and ignorant of any other proposed system, he erected at Magog the first plant for the purpose of supplying air to a cotton mill.

The air supply from this plant was ample for the needs of the mill and its success here led to its further application in the field of mining. The efficiency of the plant at Magog though relatively high was improved on by a better proportioning of the parts and the later plants had efficiencies of 82%, an improvement of 20% over the Magog plant. Three separate patents were obtained by Taylor for his design of the hydraulic air compressor in 1896, 1898 and 1900.

Sketches and links

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The following links connect to historical sites, Engineering Societies and blog sites that support the engineering and historical significance of Charles Havelock Taylor's design of the Hydraulic Air Compressor.

http://www.cobalt.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=57

http://www.sections.asme.org/milwaukee/history/51-taylorcompressor.html

http://www.coppercountry.com/OldVictoria.php

http://www.cobaltmininglegacy.ca/power.php

Kootenay Plant Sketch:

There appear to be conflicting stories with regard to the Kootenay Air Plant at Ainsworth BC. In the second family account it was said to be rendered inoperable due to the lack of a spur line to the mines and that Taylor had paid back the investors from his own pocket however, I received the following email response from the Kootenay Historical Society;

Dear Mr. Hawkins,
Your message to Nelson was forwarded to us at the Kootenay Lake Archives. However, our internet server is being changed there and so I am replying from my home.
Here is the information that I have found on the Coffee Creek compressor (as we call it) found in "High Grade and Hot Springs - A History of the Ainsworth Camp" by E.L. Affleck 2001.
Page 6: "One of the most interesting early mining plants in the camp was a non-mechanical gravity air compressor, a Taylor air compressor, installed in 1897 on the north canyon wall of Coffee Creek. This device, working on a principle patented by C.H. Taylor of Montreal, compressed air by employing falling water. The plant, using flumed water from Coffee Creek, had a capacity of 5000 cubic feet of free air per minute at 85 pounds per square inch and developed 600 horsepower. The water was dropped vertically down a wood-stave pipe (existing pictures indicate metal pipe, which presumably replaced the initial wood installation) into a vertical shaft about 100 feet deep at the edge of the creek. The air was piped two to three miles to mines as far away as the "United" until about 1910. The "BC Mining Record" of September 1906 carried a detailed description of this plant. One would have anticipated a huge market for this compression device, but it was said that the process leached most of the oxygen out of the air, with the result that the oxygen-starved compressed air piped into underground passages was lethal to workers. This could account for the poor performance of the Taylor Air Compressor in the market." A photograph of the compressor on page 2 is captioned with a statement saying that the compressor collapsed in 1916. See also Page 49.

I hope that this is useful information for you. Sorry not to be able to report that it is still in use or that there are parts of it around.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Scarlett
Volunteer Archivist
Kootenay Lake Archives
Kootenay Lake Historical Society
Box 537
KASLO, BC V0G 1M0
CANADA
Tel: 250-353-9633
The Archives is open on Monday evenings 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. and Thursday
mornings 9:00 a.m. to Noon except holidays.
Check out our website at www.klhs.bc.ca/archives <http://www.klhs.bc.ca/archives>

The statements that "the process leached most of the oxygen out of the air" and "oxygen starved air piped into underground passages was lethal to workers" seems rather far fetched.

It is possible that toxic air was picked up through the leaching of gases within the layers of geological strata and was carried by the compressed air however, this in itself is highly unlikely due to the piping system.

The pneumatic tools used in the mining process do not extract air but rather they exhaust air. The term "oxygen starved" infers that the volume of air exhasted from the tools during each working day was greater than the volume of the mining tunnel. This is also highly unlikely.

A more likely scenario would be the cost in replacing the 1354 foot long wooden stave pipe 4 foot 6 inches in diameter, built against the side of the gorge, as well as the 110 foot high wooden tower was considered to great an expence at the time.

At this point in history it is impossible to evaluate the reasons for shutting down the plant however I must point out that this is the only system both prior to and after construction of the Kootney plant that had this problem. Cobalt produced nearly 10 times horsepower and still operated continuously up until the mid 1980's.

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1895 to 1914 "continued"

These were the glory years for Charles Taylor not only was he given the honour of building a plant for the great Peterborough Lift Lock but news of his inventive genius had reached Europe.

Charles made many business trips to Europe in the late nineteenth century, and belonged to many of the best social clubs in London and Paris. He saw the Worlds Fair in 1897 at Paris France and was much impressed with the Eiffel Tower and the Hall of Mirrors.

He bought one of Toronto's first cars, a 1911 Ford, at a time when driving was an adventure. A time when gasoline was obtained only in the city center and roads were limited.

In 1901 a Fourth compressor was built in the State of Washington. Then in 1906, a general purpose compressor was constructed in Norwich Connecticut. That same year Taylor was commissioned to build a 550 Horsepower compressor for the Victoria Copper Mine in Rockland Michigan which delivered air at 117 p.s.i. Other plants were built in Tarica, Peru and in Germany.

The largest and most ambitious Air Plant was the Ragged Chutes plant at Cobalt Ontario. Taylor visited Cobalt in 1905 and determined that the conditions and the mining industry were ideally suited to his invention. Work on the plant was completed in 1910.

To finance his company he invited many prominent New York bankers to Cobalt and treated them to a fabulous hunting and fishing expedition that included a huge barbeque of choice moose steaks. Needless to say they were duly impressed with his ability as a host and engineer that he was able to secure their financial backing.

The plant at Ragged Chutes is 5500 H.P. with a 1000 H.P. reserve. A 660 foot weir dam was built across the Montreal River to control the water flow. The air is transported by means of a seamless steel pipe. These specially designed pipes were brought in from Germany. A total of 21 miles of pipe were required for the project.

(More on the Cobalt Plant in the next posting).

1905 - 1910 The building of Ragged Chutes

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Ragged Chutes was Charles most ambitious project and his greatest success. The feeder shaft, 351 feet deep and 9 and 1/2 feet in diameter was sunk into the bedrock. The lower 40 feet widens to 11 and 1/2 feet in diameter. At the top of this shaft are twin intake heads each containing 72 intake pipes, 16 inches in diameter.

Water backed up behind the 660 foot wide dam swirls down through these pipes carrying air with it. When the water reaches the bottom of the shaft, it is diverterted into a 1021 foot long horizontal tunnel by a steel sheathed concrete cone.

This tunnel is 20 feet wide and 26 feet high, at the far end a bulge in the ceiling increases the height to 42 feet. The rushing water slows down in this tunnel and the air collects along the roof at approximately 120 p.s.i. A 298 foot tail shaft by 22 feet in diameter returns the water to the surface. Once at the surface it continues down the Montreal River.

The air, under pressure, in the pocket below ground is tapped off by a 24 inch diameter steel pipe and brought to the surface. Here it passes into a valve house and is distributed to the mines of Cobalt.

The air is transported to the mines via a seamless pipe, imported from Germany, specific to this project. There is a total of 21 miles of seamless pipe used for the movement of air to the various mines.

(The photo at the right is of shaft #8 it has a pencil sketch on the back presumably by Charles Taylor that was done on site.)

When more compressed air, than can be used, builds up in the chamber the water level in the tunnel is forced down exposing the end of a 12 inch release pipe. The excess air blows out 10 feet below the surface of the Montreal River resulting in a geyser plume that often reaches 200 feet in the air. It was one of the most impressive site around Cobalt during the hayday of the Air Plant.

To reduce friction and drag in the intake and tail shaft Taylor had to devise a method of drilling in the granite that would ensure a smooth vertical wall. He designed a drilling rig that allowed the men to work from a wooden platform that rotated on a central axis, thus maintaining a constant diameter. Wall fractures in the granite substrate were smoothed with cement to eliminate uneven surfaces.

There were many nay sayers at the time who did not believe Taylors calculations, there were many in the Engineering field that said it could not be done. The general feeling around Cobalt at the time was, "Taylor is crazy, a two bit, so-called engineer, self taught, little better than a mechanic with a bunch of wacky ideas". He was this and more, most visionaries are. The educated and informed doubt the abilities of those without the paper qualification however Taylor not only proved them wrong but his Air Plant was so finely engineered that it operated unabated, but for two maintenance shutdowns, up until fire destroyed it in the 1980's.

( special thanks for the text, in part, to Richard Hillary grandson of CH Taylor).

All That Remains Today

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Many Thanks to Jordan Tanner and his friends at Ontario Hydro for these pictures

1905 to 1910 The mines of Cobalt

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1905 to 1910 Mining in Cobalt

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Silver Sidewalk Lawson Mine

As I mentioned early Charles Taylor was an avid amateur photographer who, during his travels, recorded the history of his time. While being an amateur at the art Charles excelled in his knowledge of the camera and its limited ability.

Many of these photo's are not only rare in their subject matter but they are rare in their technical sense as well.

Surface vein at the Lawson Mine

Surface Vein

Drilling at La Rose Mine

Mucking at La Rose

Underground Vein at La Rose

La Rose Vein

1910 to 1914 The Pre-war Years.

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Experience with the earlier compressors had led to an improvement in design and efficiency. The Ragged Chutes Air Plant ran at 82% efficiency.

There are several inherent advantages to this system. The air is drier than that obtained from mechanical compressors because of its close proximaty to cold water. It does not contain the oil and fumes associated with mechanical compressors. The initial cost is about equal to that of other compressors however operating costs are almost nil. In its day the rates charged were 25 cents per 1000 cu. ft. This was substantially less than other air companies in the area. As a result, Cobalt Power was able to buy out the others.

The Cobalt plant has worked almost continuously since 1910. In 1950 the plant was shut down to overhaul the intake pipes. 86 tubes were repalced due to corrosion. Again in 1961 the tunnel was dewatered to facilitate some repairs to the air pipe. This in itself is truly remarkable and pays tribute to Taylor's inventive genius and design skills.

Within a few short years Taylor had disagreements with his financial backers over operating policies so he resigned and left the business. The plant was later sold to the Northern Ontario Power Company.

Ontario Hydro now owns the plant, which has since been destroyed by fire, and has no plans to rebuild it at this time. No more plants can be built privately today, as the waterways are now controlled by the government. ( * Special note: The plant has since been destroyed by fire. All that remains are the tubes)

During the 1930's, the Tennesseee Valley Authority, using Taylor plans, built a 50,000 H.P. plant. One of the designers misread a measurement by a decimal point and plant efficiency was reduced to 10%. This illustrates how accurate the original Taylor design had been.

Cobalt - The Days of Construction

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The accomplishments of our ancestors is made even more amazing when we stop to look at the conditions in which they worked and the tools at hand. We have to remember that these men were without benefit of mobile cranes but rather constructed dericks with which to hoist heavy materials. Calculations were done without the benefit of calculators, never mind computers. Engineers and architects worked with quill or nib pens. They dipped the pen in an ink well and drew a section of a line then dipped the pen and continued the line drawing.

Transportation of materials would have been by rail, but first they had to build the spur line. Special riggings with horse and harness would be the mode of transportation to site locations. Trees had to be cleared with two man buck saws to make way for roads and right of ways.

Building Cordoroy Road

Anchor Pier and Gate Valve, 20" Pipe Line

Company Bunk House

Cobalt - Construction cont'd

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Workers in the mines and on the construction sites at the turn of the 20th century were a hardy bunch who made do with what they had. Much of their clothing and household goods would have been ordered from the Eaton's Mail Order News advertisements in the Cobalt Daily Nugget.

Water Wheel at power house

Spillway camp #5

Panoramic view Camp #5

Lumber Camp

Hound Chutes Gate Pier

Hound Chutes Canal

Hound Chutes Boat Landing

Hound Chutes Shaft

Hound Chutes Form for Powerhouse

Hoistrunners Family and Cabin

Diamond Drill at Work

Chapman's Camp

Company Mail Team

Camp #5 from #3 Shaft

1905 to 1910 More than a Mining Town

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In its early years Cobalt was more than just mines and shanties. It was a vibrant hussling and bussling community with an Opera House, a Masonic Temple, a Hotel and much more.

Cobalt Looking South

The Opera House Block

Town Hall and Masonic Temple

Prospct Hotel

Catholic Church

Canadian Bank of Commerce

The Square Cobalt

Trenching on Nippissing Hill

Relaxation time in Early cobalt

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Life in early Cobalt was not all work as can be seen in the accompanying photo's. For those of you who have have been a part of this historic area all your lives you may find one or two of you ancestors here. Unfortunately I don't have all the names however, those I do have are posted with the photo.

Enjoy......

Hunting, breaking camp

Mr. and Mrs Moulinard and Mrs. Rogers

Midnight Duck Supper

Mr Cairnie and Miss

Spencer

Partridge Hunting, One Last Shot

Paul, Mr. Benedict and Mrs. Symmes

Saturday Night Poker

Cobalt and Old Victoria sketches

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Cobalt Sketch

OLD VICTORIA

Other Plants:
A 200 h.p. plant in the State of Washington has a working head of 45 ft., an induction column 260 ft. long 3 foot diameter, which compresses the air to 85 lbs. per sq. in. Water flows through the plant at the rate of 53 cu. ft. per second.

A hydraulic compressor was installed in Germany in 1907-08 at Clausthal, having a head of 325 ft. and an average flow of 792 gallons per minute. The efficiency was calculated to be 73.6%.

A large plant was installed at Norwich, Connecticut for general power purposes.
At Tarica, Peru South America a plant was installed utilizing a working head of 69 ft. The design is somewaht similar to that at Kootenay where a tower was used to supply the working head.

Peterborough Lock

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When the Ainsworth BC plant failed to reach its financial expectations Taylor paid back the investors the tidy sum of $60,000 from his own pocket. ( see Sketches and Links for alternate story)

This put quite a finacial strain on the company however in 1898 Taylor received an order from the Dominion Government to supply and install a 45 horse power compressor at the Peterborough Lift Lock on the Trent Canal in Ontario.

Here we see the underside of the lift taken in modern times. Below is a photo taken at the top of the locks showing the spectacular view that boaters have enjoyed for over 100 years.

Here at the bttom is a photo of Taylor (middle) at the Peterborogh site during construction.

The photo below is the manhole cover at the locks indicating the company manufacturer.

Recent photos from the Peterborough Lift Lock

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Hi Terry/Bob/Roy,

Just recently, we at the lock had the opportunity to climb down the old
turbine penstock shaft (which housed most of the auxiliary plant
piping), and get some pictures. These pictures include shots of some
of the components of the Taylor Air Compressor, including the bottom of
the output pipe, the baffles on the inside of the output pipe above the
road level, and the blow-off pipe. While some of these components are
corroding badly, they are still intact. As well, upon further review
of the drawings, I found the access I was looking for. There is a
manhole cover in the steel plate beneath the headpiece allowing access
to the well shaft housing the down pipe and air pipes, eventually
leading to the compression chamber room. I would love to see that one
day!

I hope you find these pictures as interesting as I did.

Jordan

P.S I was wondering if any of you have any pictures of the plant at
the PLL being installed/In operation? Or any old pictures of the PLL
plant in general?

A special "Thank you" to Jordan Tanner for these photo's. Not bad after more than 100 years of service.

Peterborough cont'd

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The above photo was taken by myself during a fall visit to the Peterborogh Locks. The shot is taken from the underside of the lock where an access road passes to allow tourists to visit this historic site.

Here we have the sub-contractor list dated 1906 showing Taylors contribution to the design and building of the Lock. (see item 1260).

The photo above shows the basic operating principal of the hydraulic lift assembly.

1911 - A Fork in the Road

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It is here that Charles life takes on a whole new dimension and the tale of two families begins. While in Europe in 1910 Charles met a young woman by the name of Gertrude Mabel Morgan. Infatuated with this young lady Charles brings her to Canada.

First family account of the relationship is that the young woman was brought to Canada presumably as a maid since Charles was still married to one Helen Maria Pye. At the time Charles and Helen Maria had 3 children Eva, Arthur and Helen and were living in Haileybury. Charles first family continued to live in Haileybury until the family home was sold. By this time Both Eva and Helen were married and remained in Haileybury for a few years. After the sale of the home Helen Maria took Arthur and moved back to Montreal.

In 1911 Charles and Gertrude Mabel are married in Buffalo, New York. They return to Toronto to live and for the first year of their marriage they occupy a suite in the Prince George Hotel. Later they move to a house on Wolfrey Avenue in Toronto. Together Charles and Gertrude Mabel had 6 children; Sylvia, Charles (Bud), Phyllis, Roy, Ray and Constance.
In conversation with my grandmother Jeanne Taylor the wife of Arthur Havelock, and first born son of Charles and Helen Maria, divorce was never mentioned. What we do know is that he maintained contact with his first family now residing in Montreal and Haileybury while raising a second family in Toronto.

The relationship between Arthur and his father Charles was strained. Arthur was born with a clef lip and pallet and spoke with an impediment. Charles felt that this was a detriment to Arthurs learning ability and decided to send him to boarding school. There were two prefered schools on the list, Feller and Point aux Trembles in Montreal East. Feller in Grande Ligne Quebec was chosen since there was a strong student body of French Canadians at Point aux Trembles. Both the schools were Protestant Missionary schools that emphasized both education and religious teaching.

While at Feller there was a fire and while all the students were on the lawn the principal asked for a volunteer to enter the basement and shut off the gas. Young Arthur took up the challenge and crawled through a basement window, shut off the valve and saved the building from extensive damage.

A new path - a second family account

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The following account of Taylors life is taken from a submission written by Richard Hillary, Charles H. Taylors grandson. A special thank you goes out to Terry Mandzy and his wife Joan Taylor (grandaughter of Charles H Taylor) as well as to Bud (Charles) and Roy who have submitted written and verbal stories of this great Canadian.

First World War Era:

The Great War brought an end to Taylor's former line of work and a whole new industry
opened up for him. He was quick to notice the business possibilities that war offered and he entered the machine manufacturing business at the beginning of the war.

He rented 5 large warehouses in Toronto and lauched whole-heartedly into the war effort. He designed machines and utilized many of them in his own shops. In one factory he produced the large shell casings used in heavy artillery. The machines were so efficient that there were few rejects. This gave Charles a production edge over his competitors who were using out dated manufacturing methods. In another factory he manufactured the timing fuses for high explosives while in yet another factory he made the firing mechanism for field artillery.

As mentioned earlier, we know he kept in touch with his first family having made the decision to send Arthur to boarding school. After Arthur married Jeanne Piche in Montreal Charles sponsored her with the Dominion Government as noted here on Jeanne's certificate.

The date on the certifcate 1918 and the sponsors name and address are on the back.

Charles first love was the mining industry and in 1918 he was made a lifetime member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in which he had been a chartered member for 20 years.

The war years were really the busiest years of his carrer and enabled him to enter the post war years on a very strong financial footing.

First family - a new path

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At the end of war Arthur Taylor and Jeanne Piche had a son, Russel Havelock Taylor. Arthur had a dream to raise horses for the army afterall many had died during the war and the Dominion Government would have a need to replace them.

Jeanne, Arthur and young Russel embarked upon a journey to Alberta, the land of opportunity and a great place to breed horses. They purchased a farm in Three Hills Alberta. At the same time Arthurs younger sister had fallen ill. We see from her letters to Arthur and Jeanne that her health was deteriorating rapidly. Shortly after setting up house in Tree Hills Russel died.

It is said that it was a result of the milk he was being fed at the time.

In 1921 Frances Kathleen was born. It was shortly after Francis birth and Helen's passing that Arthur, Jeanne and Frances returned to Montreal.

To read the letters... left double click on each one to enlarge

November 1919

December 1919

January 1920

Helen passed away in 1921.