Community 137

The East Point area also took the lawless use of liquor seriously. On at least one occasion, they gathered their Temperance Society members and travelled to Souris for a dinner meeting. One East Point resident spoke from his casket. He had stipulated in his will that there was to be no drinking at his wake nor in his house the day of the funeral.113

But Souris was a seaport town and, when a storm threatened, her streets were filled with idle sailors and fishermen looking for something to do while their ships were anchored for safety in the harbour. In August, 1887, about seventy American vessels arrived on a Friday night to take shelter, and 800 crewmen came ashore. They had no difficulty getting refreshments in the Souris saloons. Later in the evening, some of them, well refreshed, managed to drug the chief officer of the Canadian cruiser Vigilant who was there to keep law and order among the seamen. As he lay helpless, they cut the buttons and badge off his uniform. Sub collector Michael Foley wired the authorities, who sent the cruiser Critic to replace the Vigilant. The poor debuttoned officer stood trial later for neglect of duty.114

Temperance reformers had been active in Souris since 1878, the year the Scott Act was passed, but there was little they could do about the drinking and fighting. On at least one occasion, when the situation got out of hand, the Militia, under Captain Brennan, had to be called out.115

At this time villages such as Souris had men appointed yearly by the Grand Jury of the Supreme Court to take charge of certain duties. The earliest were the Fence Viewers and Constables. Later there were Land- waiters, Preventative Officers, Collectors of Excise and light duties Assayer of Weights and Measures, Harbour and Ballast Master, Sub Collector of Customs, and others who helped keep law and order. The general overall affairs were taken care of by these appointed officers. But the time had come for the village to take on responsibility for its own specific needs.

A Village Becomes a Town:

The Act of Assembly passed in 1899 “to provide for the prevention of accidents by fire in Souris, for the lighting of the streets and the construc— tion of sidewalks thereon...”was no longer adequate. It had allowed for the election of six assessors, who had the power to assess property and tax it at a rate of .15 per $100. and to levy a poll tax of .50 on every male over the age of twenty-one. And, perhaps of greater importance at that time, the Act allowed the assessors, who were also the fire wardens, to inspect all build- ings twice a year for fire safety.116

The regular visits of the fire wardens to check the fines and the sight of the required fire bucket hanging in the front hall kept the Souris residents aware of the danger of fire. As a result, the number of outbreaks dropped sharply. There are no records available to confirm it, but it is assumed that the first fire engine was purchased with the revenue collected from the village under this first form of local government.

When Eustace Shaw came to Souris in 1889, Souris had a wooden side- walk on one side of Main Street and lamps that blew out in the wind.1 1" The situation was not much better in 1893. A reporter for the Examiner of October 20, had this to say: While Souris is improving and prospering, she still needs more light upon sidewalks from which a sudden fall of one to two feet is not impossible on the part of the unsophisticated stranger. There is a welcoming and attractive lamp at the hospitable door of the good Sea View