After a good night’s rest, I got up betimes on Monday morning, Oct. 17th, a fine morning, & let me say here, the nights were cool. Mr. Fetterley, as he came home in the morning, noted the temperature for me in his garden, & at 5 a.m. Saturday, thermometer read 37°, Sunday morning, 43°, at noon I read 61° in the city coming out of church. On Monday morning (Oct. 17th) it stood 53° at 4:30. They had expected every night that all flowers would be nipped during the coming nights, & brought some inside that were in pots, however, it did not read zero.
I got some of my diary written up during the forenoon, as Sarah & I had to “flit” to Mr. John & Mrs. Nolan’s (daughter of Scremerston – Sarah – a very, very nice body indeed). They had been jealous we should stay too long at Fetterleys’ (& Michael boards with the Nolans), so at 4 o’clock we set off, bag & baggage or “velice” [sic] as they call bags here, & we got to Nolans’ about 12:30. They live on Junction Ave., off Dix Ave., on the corner of which is a beautiful Catholic ch., “Holy Redeemer”, supplied by the Redemptist Fathers, this information for Father Matthew, & by the way, on one of the walls in Mr. Nolan’s rooms is a youthful portrait in canonicals of Father Matthew. I soon recognized it & commented. Canny folks, Mr. & Mrs. Nolan. He is a great treat & had been so excited about my coming visit. I enjoyed him. He was with Younger at Haggerstone, knew most intimately Uncle Davie & Maggie, & all the others, & such hosts of questions he asked about every body & place. He was at the Lees too with Sir John Ma[r]joribanks, & knows Coldstream well. I wrote Andy from his house & gave him a few particulars, & Mr. Nolan was delighted as he knows the people mentioned will remember him.
Well, after dinner, Mr. Fetterley came & we 3 set out [7:95] & a fine afternoon we had viewing. We went to the water works, the grounds of which are laid out in a style not surpassed by any park, floral designs such as I’ve never seen, & a huge clock face made of flowers, great pointers & keeps proper time, worked by water power. I hope the snap I took, Mr. Fetterley & Mr. Nolan on each side of it – it occupies a face of a mound – & I hope it comes out. It was sun down & a bit dull, & so many large trees around obscured the light. We visited the machinery house & 4 enormous engines it contains. I’ve got particulars for Mr. Windrim, I won’t note fully here. 2 of them were working, weigh 500 tons each, makes 11 ½ revolutions per minute & pumps 1,800 galls. per revolution. The water supply is drawn from the lake. The engine’s capacity is 30 million gallons in 24 hours. That is one engine’s work & all are equal capacity. At the water works, we could see the opening into St. Clair, a small lake between Huron & Detroit river. Returning to the city, we went on top of a very grand building, marble court & stairs. The Union Trust Building, banks & offices, 12 stories high. Took elevator up to 11th floor, & on roof, 12th story, is an observatory, & the weather indications are published from the office on the 11th floor. We had a grand view over the city, river, & to Windsor on the Canadian side, only a short distance across. I took 2 views from this altitude. If they are any good, they will be interesting. The river bends just at Sandwich, where a college is, & it is 18 miles from there into Lake Erie, & 5 miles from the bend up to Lake St. Clair entrance, not far from water works. We viewed about after de[s]cending & until 5:30, when I had to bid goodbye to Mr. Fetterley. He had to go home for supper & be back again in city by 7, a jolly fellow & good company. Mr. Nolan & I viewed about a while longer, but let me say, just after we got down from the high building, we made straight for Michael’s store, & he shewed us through, went up [7:96] the elevator & walked down, viewing each floor to basement amongst machinery. He introduced me to some of the male managers, one especially, a superintendent, & a Scotsman. When I told him I had come around to see if I could take hints & notes for our improvement in England, he amused us by his loyal reply. Mr. Nolan & I got to Junction Avenue about 7. Michael had got home, so was the son, Harry, & daughters Anne & Winifred, who is at school opposite, & I had met her at dinner time. Mary is at Simcoe & staying with Matthew presently. We had supper & spent a very happy night, so much to talk about & very entertaining were our hosts. Retired about 11.