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  • Fwd: EPISODE 402 MAKE ROOM FOR HEROES: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN RICKER (EDUCATOR)

    Note..this episode is far too long but I am tired…r



    EPISODE 402    MAKE ROOM FOR HEROES: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN RICKER 


    alan skeoch
    august 2021

    JOHN RICKER…EDUCATOR…A MAN WITH HEROES IN HIS LIFE


    AT THE END OF THIS EPISODE TRY AND RECORD THE HEROES IN YOUR LIFE


    In 1986 I wrote a very juvenile article about John Ricker;  Uncovered by pure chance today, August
    5, 2021…35 years later.  Who is John Ricker?  In a word I would say he is an educator.  Much more than
    that of course…husband, professor, philosopher, administrator, veteran, father, grandfather, author, Order of Canada, friend.  But he remains
    to me a teacher…my teacher.   Years ago the CBC wanted to interview me on the place of history in
    the Ontario curriculum (or some such thing like that).  A reporter came to Parkdale Collegiate and was
    questioned by our vice principal.  “Why would you want to see him, he is only a teacher?”  True.  I was
    and always have been ‘only a teacher’.  Rather proud of the fact.  Early in my career I may have had
    ambitions for higher positions in the educational pyramid.  Maybe later…maybe if I get bored teaching.
    That never happened.  I never wanted to be anything but a teacher.  I owe that to John Ricker.
    He made all of us feel teaching was the noblest of professions when he taught teachers at the
    faculty of eduction way back in 1963.  Made us proud and nervous. Would we measure up?

    Believe it or not, we still meet monthly at John’s house with a group of friends.  I am 82.  John is 95.
    Very senior ciitizens who gather at our Castlefield Insttute to consider world events and laugh a lot.
    Teachers all …even if one is a judge and another a surgeon.





    There was no reason for me to find this interview among the dusty files in our cellar.  Pure chance.
    Rather wonderful though.  Not because of what I wrote.  Not my words.  It is the pencilled comments
    that John Ricker scribbled all over the manuscript and then went on and on shedding light on the
    need for all of us to have heroes we admire.

    “What do think of teachers, John?”  What a hopelessly dull question.  I wish I had not asked.  But
    John began to scribble furiously.    The scribbles deciphered.

    “Most teachers are bright…even though some are terribly dull and stupid.”  Classic Rickerism.
    Seems like a contradiction.  But it is John Ricker taking himself seriously but not that seriously.
    There is room for argument.  “Teachers are bright enough if they are in an atmosphere that
    applies the right kid of pressure and tension on them.”  Internal pressure it seems for the next
    comment was a bit surprising.  “The problem is that teachers don’t recognize their own heroes.
    For some reason many teachers are afraid to say they have heroes.”

    “We fail to ferret out the time-servers and frauds.  But even worse, we don’t make a fuss of
    our heroes.  No room for heroes it seems .  But the heroes are there…masters of their craft
    who continue to grow and change,  When talking about teachers many agree that teachers
    are terrible…except for ‘so and so’  God, my whole life was changed by old Mr. X. “

    JAMIE JUST LOVeD OUR SCHOOL…JUST LOVED IT…YOU CAN SEE IT IN HIS FACE.


    “Why is it that we don’t have monuments to these heroes? You rob a bank and you get a column
    in the newspaper, perhaps even your picture.  But the teacher who changes the way an 
    individual functions for the rest of his or her life earns no more than an aside in what  tends
    to be a blanket denunciation of  teaching and teachers.”


    “There are teachers who are incompetent. But I don’t think they are a problem because there
    are ways to get them out of schools even though they aren’t used often.  Many think they should be.
    A more serious problem is what to do about the much larger number of marginally competent
    teachers who just go through the motions and have a negative impact on students.”

    JOHN RICKER’S HEROES

    “I had two outstanding teachers in elementary school….Miss Warrander and Mr. Henry.
    Two in secondary school….Miss McDermid and Mr. Nation
    Three in university…Frank Underhill,  Donald McDougal and Earl Birney.”

    “By far, the most outstanding was Miss McDermid at Parkdale Collegiate.  What made her
    outstanding was that she was unquestionably a scholar.  There was no possibility that what
    she taught one year would be the same the next year.  She took delight in her subject and
    was determined that we students would share it .  Tough material did not deter her for a moment.
    She knew what she wanted to achieve and pursued her goal —and us — relentlessly.  We 
    struggled and grumbled but loved her classes.   I think we recognized that this quietly forceful
    woman  was a vitally exciting person and her dedication to learning had made her this way.
    Every lesson revealed her fascination with the creative aspects of life.  Though a Scot, I doubt very
    much that she knew for sure what her salary was.  I think she was probably surprised that
    people paid her to spend her life doing what she loved.  It’s when reflecting on the Miss
    McDermids who have enabled  the profession that I resent most of the teacher charlatans
    who would really rather be doing something else.”

    John, could you describe this teacher hero in general terms?

    “Sure,the first obligation of  a teacher is to convince his or her students
    that the creative aspects of human experience are exciting.”


    NOTE:   Respect is basic.  John Ricker did not say this explicitly but the word hero assumes respect .If there is no respect, mutual respect, i.e. student respect for a teacher and the reverse teacher respect
    for his or her students then education does not occur. 











    “To be so excited by the curriculum that the teacher becomes an exciting person in the school
    whether teaching the chemistry of the DNA molecule or (Voltaire’s Candide).  Money is
    not that important.   Good teachers often do not know what they earn.  They are astounded
    that anyone would pay them to teach.”

    John maintains we all have our teacher heroes but for some reason keep them hidden.

     Let’s get them out in the open.  


    JOHN RICKER’S HEROES:  BIRNEY, UNDERHILL AND MACDOUGAL

    WHO IS EARL BIRNEY?

    A spider’s body
    limp and hairy
    appeared at the bottom of my coffee 
    The waiter being Castilian
    said passionately nothing
    And why indeed should apologies
    be made to me 
    It was I who was looking in
    at the spider
    It might be years
    before I slipped and drowned
    in somebody else’s cup

    Poet-tree

    i fear that i shall never make
    a poem slippier than a snake
    or oozing with as fine a juice
    as runs in girls or even spruce
    no i wont make not now nor later
    pnomes as luverlee as pertaters
    trees is made by fauns or satyrs
    but only taters make pertaters
    & trees is grown by sun from sod
    & so are the sods who need a god
    but poettrees lack any clue
    they just need me & maybe you 

    From The Hazel Bough

    I met a lady
    on a lazy street
    hazel eyes
    and little plush feet 
    her legs swam by
    like lovely trout
    eyes were trees
    where boys leant out 
    hands in the dark and
    a river side
    round breasts rising
    with the finger’s tide 
    she was plump as a finch
    and live as a salmon
    gay as silk and
    proud as a Brahmin 
    we winked when we met
    and laughed when we parted
    never took time
    to be brokenhearted 
    but no man sees
    where the trout lie now
    or what leans out
    from the hazel bough

    The Bear On The Delhi Road

    Unreal tall as a myth
    by the road the Himalayan bear
    is beating the brilliant air
    with his crooked arms
    About him two men bare
    spindly as locusts leap 
    One pulls on a ring
    in the great soft nose His mate
    flicks flicks with a stick
    up at the rolling eyes 
    They have not led him here
    down from the fabulous hills
    to this bald alien plain
    and the clamorous world to kill
    but simply to teach him to dance 
    They are peaceful both these spare
    men of Kashmir and the bear
    alive is their living too
    If far on the Delhi way
    around him galvanic they dance
    it is merely to wear wear
    from his shaggy body the tranced
    wish forever to stay
    only an ambling bear
    four-footed in berries 
    It is no more joyous for them
    in this hot dust to prance
    out of reach of the praying claws
    sharpened to paw for ants
    in the shadows ofdeodars
    It is not easy to free
    myth from reality
    or rear this fellow up
    to lurch lurch with them
    in the tranced dancing of men

    WHO WAS FRANK UNDERHILL?
    Frank Underhill and the Politics of Ideas
    A nation is a body of people who have done great things together in the past and hope to do great things together in the future.

    Frank Underhill
    Frank Underhill quotes: The real division in the world today is not between socialism and capitalism, it's between freedom and totalitarianism.
    Frank Underhill (1889-1971) practically invented the role of public intellectual in English Canada through his journalism, essays, teaching, and political activity. He became one of the country’s most controversial figures in the middle of the twentieth century by confronting the central political issues of his time and by actively working to reform the Canadian political landscape. His propagation of socialist ideas during the Great Depression and his criticism of the British Empire and British foreign policy almost cost him his job at the University of Toronto. In Frank Underhill and the Politics of Ideas, Kenneth Dewar demonstrates how Underhill’s thought evolved from his days as a student at Toronto and Oxford, to his drafting of the Regina Manifesto – the founding platform of the leftist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation – to his support of his long-time friend Lester Pearson’s Liberals in the 1960s. Not willing to be bound by partisan loyalties, his later shift toward the political centre dismayed many of his former allies. The various issues Underhill confronted, Dewar argues, were connected by the pioneering role he played as an intellectual and by his social democratic vision of politics. Dewar also reassesses Underhill’s historical work, focusing on how it differed from the new professional history practised by his younger colleagues. Intelligently written and thoroughly researched, Frank Underhill and the Politics of Ideas delivers important insights into twentieth-century political life and innumerable lessons for twenty-first century Canada. 
    JUST MY THOUGHTS…BASED ON VERY LITTLE RESEARCH
    For some Bizarre reason the word ‘socialism’ angers many Americans.  Perhaps because they associate socialists too closely with Stalinism
    and the excesses of Soviet communism.   Half a century ago Isaac Deutscher said that political change can only come from the turbulence of
    free thought in the United States.  I remember that.  Even if it seem unlikely today.
    To listen to Trumpists the word socialism is akin to the ideas that are found in the  depths of evil.  Underfhill was a socialist
    who became a Liberal.  For that he paid a price.  Seems to me that John Ricker took the same
    path only did not have to pay the price of alienation.  John Ricker gets a thrill out of the freedom
    of thought…does so with humour and joy…fears not the turmoil of ideas.  Revels in them as Underhilll
    must have done.
    WHY DO SOME PEOPLE CONSIDER SOCIALISM FRIGHTENING?  

    Socialists choose cooperation to competition, and favour collectivism over individualism. The defining, value of socialism is equality, socialism sometimes being portrayed as a form of egalitarianism. Socialists consider that a measure of social equality is the essential assurance of social stability and cohesion, and that it supports freedom in the sense that it gratifies material needs and helps for personal development. The socialist movement has conventionally articulated the interests of the industrial working class, seen as systematically troubled or structurally disadvantaged within the capitalist system. The objective of socialism is to lessen or abolish class divisions.

    WHO ARE MY HEROES?

    “Alan, I thought this Episode was about John Ricker not Alan Skeoch.”  :
    “Good point Marjorie”
    “Then why continue?”
    “Because I would just like to give my heroes a good airing.”
    “Boring, Alan…drifting into boredom”
    “You might be right we seem to be living in an anti-heroic time where humans that were
    once leaders have their statues desecrated with paint and their figures decapitated.”
    “You know something, Alan, you might have hit on something. We all have heroes 
    but rarely say so.”
    “That is the point John Ricker made.”
    “Just who are your heroes?”

    (If you do not want to read about my heroes then start listing your own herroes>)


    I am such a shallow person …no great depth of political insight like Ricker.  A child of the
    1950’s.  Part of a generation of undeserved wealth earned by the fires of the Great Depression
    and the sacrifices of so many lives in a war soon to be a footnote.

    I have a lot of heroes.

    In elementary school there were two.  Miss Sharpely who loved us  and Mr. Hambly who
    made earth science come alive.  He hung a huge wasps nest in his room to which some fired
    paper clips from elastic bands.  But meant no disrespect.

    In secondary school there were more
    Evan Cruickshank
    Roberta Charlesworth
    Maida Schroeder
    Duncan Green
    Fred Burford
    Wally Little

    In the university of Toronto there were heroes of a different sort
    Marcus Long , philosopher…
    Marjorie Hughes, open arms, open heart…made me a lucky man
    Dr. Norman Paterson, geophysicist who made science exciting 

    Voltaire, Steinbeck, Michener, Kant, Rousseau and a host of others not least of
    which was Eric Fromm’s book  The Sane Society.  Somewhere in the book
    Fromm argued that everyone should get the same wage. Then people would
    choose careers they love rather than careers that paid the most money.  And we 
    would be a happier people.
    When I said that to my friends they thought I was nuts.

    and later in post grad

    John Ricker
    Andrew Lockhart
    Desmond Morton
    Phyllis Morgon

    If I had to choose one high school mega hero, it would be Evan Cruickshank.  Although
    I never noticed it at the time “Crooky” taught me to think for myself
    with three little words  “I don’t know,”  I was not a person that devoted 
    myself to homework.  Skipped doing it whenever I could which was
    often.  I meant no disrespect to my teachers.  There just was not enough
    time to do everything…sports, dancing, dating girls, reading for pleasure, earning
    a little money.  So I skipped homework and accepted the odd detention
    for doing so.  One detention was memorable.  Roberta Charlesworth
    kept me after school to serve a detention in her room.  Seemed easier
    to serve it in the girls gym where there were females in bloomers to look
    at.  Roberta Charlesworth was the girls coach.  Next day she called me
    to the front of the class…I always tried to find a middle seat…why did
    she want me?  She promptly lifted me off the ground by my ear.  “When
    you serve a detention with me you do it here in this room not in the girls gym.
    I respected her as a teacher….one of my teacher heroes in spite of my
    sore ear..


    But “Crooky” takes  the prize with his simple “I don’t know”
    technique.  I respected him.  Stood in awe of him at times.  His explanation
    of Marxian socialism stays with me to this day.  

    One day however I got up my nerve to ask him about some event
    in history that intrigued me.  Crooky would surely know.  Bt he did not.
    He even confessed “I don’t know” which sent me scurrying to the library
    that evening just to help Crooky out.   Not to suck around. I did that
    out of respect.   Later I discovered that his ‘I don’t know’ may have
    been deliberate but I was never sure.  “Crooky” asked big time questions.
    But he was also humble…open minded.

    John Ricker became a hero as well.  He conveyed a deep love for
    big questions.  The kind that start simply but lead to universal truths.
    I was very sorry when I heard that John had become Dean of
    the Faculty of Educaton.  That meant he would no longer be facing
    down classes of new teachers.  Teaching.  I even told him so John could make us think
    about history from many angles.  Made us realize we were taking on
    a sacred trust by shaping young people.  He had respect.  Without
    respect , as I mentioned, no solid teacher-student learning can occur.
    One of his methods was similar to Crooky but different also.  When a 
    student asked John a question there was often a pause…a dead silence 
    in the room while John considered his answer.  In 1963 the silence was aided
    and abetted by drawing on a cigarette and then reaching for his coffee cup.
    Dead and total silence when he did that.   W were like the Israelites waiting
    for Moses to bring word from on high.  And John consumed books like a
    bull does ensilage with one different. The ideas in a good book went to
    his brain and not his stomach.

    Life takes curious twists and turns.  Most surprising of these twists and
    turns is that both  Evan Cruickshank and John Ricker became good
    friends.   Peers in the pursuit of knowledge.  Shapers of the minds
    of students.  Both of them pushed me towards Parkdale Collegiate.
    “If you teach at that school, you will never want to leave, Alan.”
    So true.

    NOW FOR THE CHALLENGE

    Who are your heroes?




    REMEMBER THE SODER IN THE COFFEE CUP?
    WHO IS EARL BIRNEY?

    A spider’s body
    limp and hairy
    appeared at the bottom of my coffee 
    The waiter being Castilian
    said passionately nothing
    And why indeed should apologies
    be made to me 
    It was I who was looking in
    at the spider
    It might be years
    before I slipped and drowned
    in somebody else’s cup






    WHAT IS THE BEST SCHOOL?  EASY TO ANSWER…THE BEST SCHOOL IS THE SCHOOL YOU ARE TEACHING IN TODAY…MAKE

    IT THAT WAY.  NOT YESTERDAY’S SCHOOL OR TOMORROW’S SCHOOL.  THE SCHOOL YOU ARE TEACHING IN TODAY IS

    BEST AND YOU HAVE A DUTY TO MAKE IT SO.



    A LOT OF MY HEROES AT THE UIVERSITY OFTORONTO WERE ON OUR FOOTBALL TEAM….ABOVE
    PIERRE TRUDEAU WAS A HERO

    STAN ELLIS, MY FIRST PRINCIPAL WAS A HERO


    SHIELA HAMBLETON WAS A VERY KIND AND SHARING HERO…LED BY EXAMPLE

    HEROES IN MY LIFE CAME IN ALL KINDS OF SHAPES AND FORMS…TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. 








  • re EPISODE 402 :JOHN RICKER … HEROES IN OUR LIVES EPISODE 402 WLL BE DELAYED

    RE  EPISODE 402:  JOHN RICKER … HEROES IN OUR LIVES   EPISODE 402  WLL BE DELAYED

    Hi John (Wardle)

    Castlefield Institute,
    august 2021


    RE:  HEROES IN OUR LIVES


    This story will be slow in coming because when JOHN RICKER edited my speech in 1980’s he revealed
    so much about himself…about John Ricker.. that I must follow the evidence to Earl Birney and Frank
    Underhill…two heroes of Ricker’s that I have never known.  Reveals so much.
    The theme is HEROES IN OUR LIVES…think about it.  Our heroes reveal so
    much about who we are, what we believe, our life journey.

    For those of you who do not know John Ricker.  Please do not feel this episode is
    peripheral to your lives.  It is not.  Recollections of heroes … personal heroes…says
    so much about the essence of each of us.

    Origin of the story comes from my discovery among the dust detritus of my files
    a speech that I made long ago.  John Ricker edited the speech ruthlessly.  The
    story HEROES IN OUR LIVES is the result of his edit.  Who is John Ricker?
    He was a little kid in Great Depression…a high school valedictorian in 1942…a
    rear gunner in a war where many of his friends died…a teacher of history…a receiver
    of the Order of Canada…a friend.  A person who triggers thought.


    So the episode will take more time.  Worth it.  And I must make the story readable
    by people who have never heard of John Ricker.  

    I send these comments as an explanation of the delay.

    alan skeoch
    august 2021

  • EPISODE 400 THE SHORT AND HORRIFIC LIFE OF GEORGE EVERITT GREEN, HOME CHILD , PART FOUR

    EPISODE 400    THE SHORT AND HORRIFIC LIFE OF GEORGE EVERITT GREEN, HOME CHILD ,  PART FOUR


    alan skeoch
    August 2021


    Each episode will include a picture of George Green


    OLD OWEN SOUND COURT HOUSE

    IMAGNE sitting in this court room while Dr. Dow described injuries to George Green


    DOCTOR DOW DESCRIBES BODY OF GEORGE GREEN

    Dr. Dow was asked to state the results of  his examination of the body of George Green. 
    -He was “very much emaciated…extremely so,”  
    -His skin as a palish while, bloodless, dirty like there had been
    a coat of varnish on it.  
    -“the skin of his nose looked like it had been taken off. “ 
    -The outer edge of his left ear
    had a full length scab.  
    -There was a large scab on the left cheek covered by a scab, 
    -a large bruise on the
    lower surface of the chin, 
    -an old wound below the right elbow, 
    -the ends of the fingers were gangrenous 
    – the bones of some finger were completely bared, 
    -the left knee had several abrasions, 
    -there was an ulcer
    on the ankle about the size of a palm of a hand, 
    -one foot was also gangrenous, 
    -the left leg looked
    like it had been scraped with the end of a rough sawed board. 
    -abscesses on sole of the other foot with ulcer
    on front, 
    -bed sore the size of the Doctor’s and o the right hip, 
    -spots on body which may have been
    flea bites.

    This list is hard believe.  It would be a good idea to read it twice.
     Had it not come from a trained medical doctor I would
    have assumed the list was fake.   As events turned out the last entry led to
    deeper insight into the life of George Green and also his tormentor.
    Flea bites!   Not so.

    It was suggested to the jury by defence witnesses  that George Green was the child syphilitic mother…and 
    that George was syphilitic when h arrived in Canada.  His death therefore should
    be expected.  Negative prejudices of city life by rural people was common.  Dr. Dow gave his professional opinion on this matter and went
    on to suggest how George died.

    QUESTION TO DR. DOW:  How did George Green die?

     I examined for syphilis and for scrofula (Tuberculosis)…did not find disease.
    Did you ever in your life, either as a physician or otherwise. see a bedroom in as filthy stat?
    I never did…it was about as fifty as anything I  have ever seen.
    What was the cause of the wounds, marks and abrasions you saw on the body?
    Direct violence
    Do you think the wounds could have been accidental?
    I don’t se how they could.

    What  caused the death of George Green?
     Causes of death were many – the sleeping apartment, improper food, general way of living,
    being abused from day to day and the wounds themselves particularly the condition
    of the fingers and toes.  (gangrene)

    Another doctor was then called to testify.  Dr. W.H. Scott was present when Dr. Dow performed
    the most mortem on George Green.  He was cross-examined by defence lawyer Tucker in an
    effort to establish that the boy was syphilitic hence the red spots on his body.  And the boy
    was clumsy hence the abrasions on his body from frequent falls.

    QUESTION:  Didn’t it strike you as peculiar that the fleas would take bites in regular place equals
    distance from each other?
    ANSWER: I didn’t say they were directly regular.
    Pretty nearly said the bites were in marching order feasting off the boy as they went along.
    Perhaps they were not external bites at all.

    Then Mr. Tucker called another doctor , Dr.Lang who testified he bites were not flea bites
    because  the bites extended deep below the skin to the bone,  


    WITNESSES WHO TESTIFIED


    Here are some of the comments made by neighbours and farm workers

    LAURIE FERGUSON to MR. MACKAY

    “Where do you live?
    North Keppel, about a mile and three quarters from Miss Findlay’s.
    Did you know George Teen?
    by eye sight
    Did you see anything as to how she used him?
    No
    Did you hear her say anything as to how she used him?’
    Yes, in the harvest time she said she made him sleep wit the pigs because he misbehaved in his bed.
    She put him out two nights with the pigs and when he would not promise not to do it anymore she him out two more.

    DOCTOR BARNARDO 

    From England DR Barnardo responded with heated indignation to the suggestions that George Green was both
    imbecilic and syphilitic.  He cited the results of the British medical examination given before
    George boarded the Parisian for Canada.  He said the children sent to Canada were
    the cream of his rescue mission.

    DAVID GUNSON

    Where do you live?
    Keppel
    What is your business?
    Blacksmith
    What kind of lad was George Green?
    He was a quiet boy, rather a mannerly little fellow, as far as talking is concerned.
    Were you present at the Findlay farm on the 11h of October”
    (Yes) It was a cold day and she said she sent Mary Brown up to make supper and sent the boy
    to warm himself and go and get the cows.  Mary Brown made a pot of mush (made with bran and flour)
    and fried a pan of potatoes and then she went out to he barn to help Miss Findlay clean up the barn floor.
    When Miss Findlay came in the  she asked ,  “Who the hell is in here?” 
    The boy came out and she she got a stick or kicked him and the boy fell over and she jammed  the pail together.
    Smashed the pail?
    Yes
    Did  she say she kicked him?
    Yes and second time kicked at him and he upset the swill pail.
    Did she give an reason for doing this?
    Yes.  she said when she went into the the boy “had eaten all the potatoes and damn near all the mush.

    JAMES HUSBAND

    Where do you live, Mr. Husband?
    Kemble, sir
    How far do you from Miss Findlay?
    I suppose three miles.
    What was George Green doing the last time you saw him on Nov. 8?
    Unloading wood out of wagon.  I was coming and Saw her beat the boy with a stick the size of a chair leg,
    about three feet long.
    Hard blows or not?
    I should say pretty hard blow.
    If that stick turned out to be an axe handle, would that be reasonable chastisement even if he deserved it?
    No
    Was there anything the matter with the boy when you saw him?
    I saw blood on his nose.
    What part of his nose?
    Across the bridge.

    (Apparently George Green did not throw the firewood far enough from the wagon and Helen
    Findlay had to pick them up and throw the wood to the fence.)

    NORMAN MCLEOD

    Where do you live?
    North Keppel – farm
    Did you ever see George Green go about his work there?
    I have seen him getting the cows, bring them down from the high rock field and I have seen him milk
    five cows and carry the milk up the rock.
    Is that an easy task?
    It is not.  There is just a path blasted out of the rock for the cattle to get up and down and the precipices
    are almost perpendicular, it was just blasted so cattle can get up and down and it is very steep and it its
    quite a distance to carry milk.

    (MR. Tucker cross examined Norman McLeod who said “I don’t think the boy was very sensible or smart 
    of intellect)

    BABARA HORNE

    Where do you live, Mrs.Horne?
    AT North Keppel, next farm to Miss Findlay
    What kind of boy was George Green when you first saw him?
    A healthy looking boy.  He looked clean and well dressed.
    Any sign of disease?
    I didn’t notice any.
    Did you see him eating there?
    I saw him once.
    When?
    At his breakfast.
    About the end of August.
    Eating with others or alone.
    Alone
    What time?
    Nine O’clock.
    What was he eating?Porridge.  It looked to me like bran porridge with just enough flour to hold it together.
    Was there anything else to eat?
    Just brown bread on the table.
    Did you see anything of Miss Findlay’s treatment of the boy?
    No
    Did you hear her say anything…with reference to her treatment of him?
    Yes, I have often heard her say things.  She said if he didn’t work she would stick the pitch fork in him. I heard
    her scolding I’m…yelling at him.  I heard her halfway across the field.
    Did you see the boy much after he went to Miss Findlay’s?
    Yes, he came over to our place sometime in October.  He just had on an old pair of pants and I think the
    jersey that the boys have when the boys come from the Barnardo Home and he was bare-footed and bare-
    headed and it was raining….a cold, cold day
    Was there any signs of sickness or skin disease then.
    None then, no.
    I want to know if you can tell me anything Miss Findlay said as to how she used him, or as to what she had done
    and what he said when she did then?
    she told me about striking him sometimes in one way and he said “Oh, please stop.” and she told that was great fun.
    Did you consider the food was fit to at.
    I don’t think it was fit for a working boy to eat.
    Would you like to eat it?
    No.


    CROSS EXAMINED BY MR. TUCKER

    I suppose you will stick to it that this was bran porridge?
    Certainly
    You have enlarged on it a this time.  At the prior investigation you said it looked like bran porridge and now 
    today you say it was bran porridge with enough flour to keep it together.
    You didn’t give me a chance.
    Of course you thought it was a very unChristian thing to treat a boy that way, threatening to stick the pitch fork
    in him?
    Why, of course I thought that.
    And at the same time you were going backwards and forwards in a friendly manner?
    Not very often.
    And you never thought it proper for some kind of objection to be raised? Y ou never spoke to her about it,
    never complained to her?
    I told her when she first got him she should send him back, he was not a suitable boy for her.
    Why not?
    I didn’t think he could do the work, she was always complaining about him every time she spoke to me.
    Why could he not do her work?
    Well, I thought he could but she said not.  I saw him loading hay and saw him hitching the horses to he wagon.
    You never said to her about the manner in which she was treating him, that is so is it not?
    Well,  don’t think Miss Findlay would’ve taken it from me.

    The lawyers MacKey and Tucker cross examined witnesses aggressively even using contradictory statements
    made by husbands and wives as with the Hornes.  At stake was the life of Helen Rose Findlay.  Canada, in 1895
    still practised capital punishment.  If convicted then the hangman could be called.  Mr. Tucker tried to convince the
    jury that George Green died of natural causes.   Mr. Mackay wanted a conviction for murder.

    MR. W. H. HORNE  (examined by Mr. Mackay)

    Where do you live?
    Near Big Bay
    How far from Miss Findlay?
    The next farm.
    Across the road or alongside?
    Alongside.
    How far apart are the houses?
    About 3/8 to 1/2 mile
    What kind of lad was he?
    Fairly healthy, average size for a 15 year old boy. Taller than the general run of Home Boys at that age.  Not so
    stoutly as Keppel boys.
    Did you see him at any kind of work that would test his strength?
    Yes, a few days after he arrived Miss Findlay brought over some grain to my fanning mill and he turned the mill
    while grain was being cleaned.
    What kind of fanning mill is it?

    Here are a few pictures of the same kind Chatham fanning mill as described,  Kids Molly and Jackson
    seem to be enjoying themselves.  George Green was not as enthusiastic


    A Chapman (Chatham?) with bagger attached.
    He appeared from that to have average strength.
    I should say average strength.
    Did you see him frequently after that during the summer?
    Yes.
    He was dressed as a rule?
    Sometimes not very well dressed but I didn’t think anything of that in the summer when it was warm…Later, when
    it was colder I thought the boy hadn’t enough warm clothes on.  He looked blue and cold in the fall.


    Digging potatoes with single horse and potato plow 

    Do you remember an occasion on which you were digging potatoes?
    Yes, sometime late in October.
    Did you see Miss Findlay that day?
    I heard the boy cry and thought I heard a blow and I looked to see what was the matter.  They were working in
    the barley field.  Miss Findlay had a fork in her hand and the boy was trying to get away from her and she 
    was scolding him and following with the fork in her hand.
    What were they doing?
    Hauling in barley, but their crop was very late.
    Was she close enough to strike him?
    I think she was about the length of a fork handle away when I saw her. I have heard her scolding him often around
    the house and the barn,  sometimes in the field.

    You were over at the house the day after the boy had died?
    The night before, after she came home from town.
    What condition was the bed in?
    It was dirty.  I think some clothes had been used in the stable because there was marks on them and they looked
    as if  they  had been…and I suppose some of the clothes was soiled by the boy himself lying in the bed.


    NOTE:   Witness after witness testified that Rose Findlay abused George Green.  She said she went to town
    to get medical help the night he died which may or may not have been true.  Miss Findlay was having trouble
    managing the farm….late harvest of barley and potatoes, need to sell most of her milk to local cheese factory
    raised doubts about care of animals.   Lack of food in the house and regular meals of bran mush was another
    indication.

    MR. HORNE (Cross examined by Mr. Tucker for defence)

    You don’t pretend to say that the boy was fat and strong?
    No, sir, I would not say he was a rugged boy
    You don’t pretend to say Miss Findlay struck him that day in the harvest field?
    I didn’t see her.
    In what condition were his hands and face?
    They were very dirty very often.
    There was nothing very extraordinary about his turning that fanning mill a few minutes?  It was no test of strength?
    It would have been if he had continued at it.  It is hard work for me to run it right alone.
    Turning half a bag of grain through it, that would not amount to anything?
    There are six or seven bags, but they were not very full.  About a bushel and a half in each bag.
    Do you know if Miss Findlay assisted him?
    Perhaps she did.   I didn’t stay there.

    Did you ever notice his habit of walking?
    Yes,  I didn’t think he was a very good walker, he took a long stride but I thought he was not a smart walker…not
    very smart on his feet..
    He was humpbacked?
    No, I should say round shouldered and carried his head forward.
    His mouth was also drawn to one side?
    A little.
    And his lower jaw projected more than the upper?  You are the first witness to admit that his mouth was drawn
    to one side.   He was cross eyed also. right?
    His face being drawn around I would not be sure whether he was, but had the appearance of being cross eyed.
    Did you know he was left handed?
    No sir.
    You didn’t know that?
    Left handed men used to be the best in olden times.

    MR. MAcKAY

    You say he seemed to be clumsy on his feet.  Did you know he was absolutely blind in one eye?
    No sir.
    Would that account for his awkwardness?
    It just might.
    Suppose he was blind in one  eye and short sighted in the other?
    I think it would.  And I think that is why he walked with his head down.

    END OF EPISODE….COULD THE TREATMENT GET ANY WORSE?

    Picture of Big Bay not far from the Findlay Farm.

  • EPISODE 399 THE SHORT AND HORRIFIC LIFE OF GEORGE EVERITT GREEN, HOME CHILD , PART THREE

    Note…some readers may get upset as this court case unfolds.  Be forewarned. Of all the Home Child cases
    I have read, and there have been many, this is the worst.  It seems many journalists agree for the case is
    mentioned often.  No other journalists seems to used the court records though.   For good reason.


    EPISODE 399: THE SHORT AND HORRIFIC LIFE OF GEORGE EVERITT GREEN, HOME CHILD ,  PART THREE


    alan skeoch
    August 2021



    The condition of George Green when he arrived at Miss Findlay’s farm was critical to the case.
    If the testimony of the stage drive was competent then Miss Findlay could not be held responsible
    for his death.   He was mentally and physically ill.  James Jeffery, blacksmith apprentice in Kemble, was called to the witness stand.

    JAMES JEFFERY.  SWORN.  EXAMINED BY DEFNSE ATTORNEY TUCKER ND CROSS EXAMINED BY ATTORNEY MACKAY
    FOR HE PROSECUTION.

    QUESTION: MR. MACKAY:  You told us the first time you saw George Green he appeared to be healthy and straight?
    ANSWER: JAMES JEFFERY:  Yes sir
    He was not all twisted and tangled up, like Mr. Johnson said?
    Not that I noticed. 
    Then you didn’t see him again until the end of September (one month before George Green’s death)
    Would you say he was thinner?
    I think he was a little, sir
    He did not look as plump and healthy looking.
    No
    Did he look as if he had been weakened down from some cause?
    Yes, sir.
    HIs face was not clean and not as good a colour, is that right?
    When you saw him first he had a pretty good colour….was a healthy boy?….mannerly?   polite? kind and docile?
    …he did not seem impudent…inclined to be bashful.
    Yes sir.i
    Did you ever see anything in him that would indicate he was a saucy or impudent boy?
    I never saw anything.

    Did you see the boy’s trunk or valise?
    Yes I did..not very long ago.
    Did you see it in the stage that day?
    No sir, not that day.
    Do you know the difference between a Home trunk and a valise?
    Lately I do sir
    What is a Home boy’s trunk.
    A wooden box, sir.
    Not leather like a valise at all?
    No sir.
    What size would the trunk be?
    I would judge about 26” across, 30” long and 18” deep.
    Then Mr. Johnston is not right when he says it is a valise?
    That wooden box is not a valise…I’m sure of that.

    NOTE:  Why is this debate between a valise and trunk important.  What point is Mr. MacKay trying to establish?

    The jury had a great deal of difficulty since witnesses tended to contradict each other.  Some witnesses were
    lying.  But why?  Mr. Johnson testified that George Green was an imbecile…a museum piece.  On the other
    hand James Jeffery, a Home boy working in Kemble, testified that George was ‘very healthy looking’ when he arrived
    in May but by September he wa ‘rather thinner (and had) no conversation in him’. 

    Subsequent testimony by Alexander Amos, a nearby farmer, suggested starvation when George Green came ‘for a 
    basket of green leaves’ in August.  Mr. Guido, another neighbour testified George wore boos while others said he
    was barefoot.   All agreed he was bareheaded much of the time which accounted for the peculiar marks on
    his head.  Sunburn.  On the other hand the prosecutor witnesses believed the mark on the head and body
    indicated George had been struck several times.   Who could the jury believe.?

    Farmers Guido and Horne were called to move the body from his bed to two boards.  Mr. Guido’s testimony was 
    in sharp contrast to the medical doctor who was called at the same time. (both Guido and Guidi names are used for 
    the farmer)

    MR. JOSEPH GUIDI, SWORN, QUESTIONED BY MR TUCKER.
    (Joseph Guidi or Guido had the farm to the west side of the Findlay farm)

    QUESTION:  Had the boys’ physical appearance changed  from the time he was first seen in June until the
    time he was seen again in the middle of October?
    ANSWER: No, with the exception that he looked cold,  I could not see any difference as far as physical condition.
    Did you ever see him alive again?
    No, this was the last time.
    Did you ever see him dead?
    Yes
    What day was that?
    Sunday morning…he was in his bed.  I was over helping remove him from the bed he died in.
    Who assisted you?
    Mr. Horne
    What condition was that bed?
    Well…middling fair
    What do you mean by that?
    Possibly I have seen cleaner and I have seen dirtier clothes, I would just call them  in between.
    What was the atmosphere in that room?
    It didn’t smell very pleasant, I suppose on account of the corpse…but it was a good deal the smell as in
    a farm house where the were boiling turnips for the pigs.  I didn’t smell anything until we moved the corpse.
    What was the condition of the floor of the upstairs?
    I didn’t see anything out of the way on the floor.
    It is said by one witness there was old harness and rags it was generally dirty.
    There was no harness that I noticed.
    What was his physical appearance Sunday Nov. 10 as compared with when you first saw him in June?
    The body looked quite natural to me with the exception of the scars on his nose and face.

    The condition of the room was described by Dr. Cameron in quite the opposite manner.  The room was so indescribably 
    filthy that the doctor had never in his whole practice, even in the slums of Glasgow, seen such a room where a
    human being was expected to live.  George Green was found curled up in the fetal position, in the centre of a
    nest in a straw tick.  Around the nest was a hardened ring of excrement.  The smell was overpowering . The
    Findlay bedroom was the dirtiest, most unwholesome living quarters Dr. Cameron had ever seen…and caused him
    recurring nightmares ever since.   To Dr. Cameron the marks on the boys’ body suggested terrible abuse;

    DOCTOR SCOTT,   EXAMINED BY  MR. MACKAY
    (Another medical opinion solicited)

    QUESTION:  MR. MACKAY:   Suppose the boy was used in this way:   struck with a broom handle, with a manure fork handle,
    kicked around, punched with fist when he was down, hit with slipper and that he had been repeatedly thrashed in that
    way throughout the months of July, August, September, October … and also compelled to sleep in a filthy room…
    Would all that accelerate death?
    ANSWER, DR. SCOTT:  Yes



    TESTIMONY OF DR WILLIAM G. DOW 

    QUESTION BY MR. MACKAY You are a practising physician of how many years?
    ANSWER BY DR. DOW: Nearly ten years
    You went down to the Findlay farm on 11th November with coroner Cameron?
    I did
    You held a post mortem examination I believe?
    Yes
    Did you see the bed in that room?
    I did
    Give me the condition of the Bed in which he died or was said to have died.
    We found the room very dirty, a  good deal of old rubbish.  On the bed was a blanket, part of which looked like it 
    had been in the stable.
    Was there any clean clothing at all?
    Not what would call clean.
    Give me the condition of the bed in detail.
    It was an old fashioned posted bed with board in front and a straw tick opened down the middle showing straw which was short, very
    filthy and semi-solid, very filthy…no spring.
    What kind of filth?
    Well. the only way I could describe it wa as being a place where possibly a pig might have lain for a week or longer.
    What kind of filth? Human?
    Yes, Might have been there for weeks.
    Did any part of that bed show any signs of having been made up in recent times?
    None whatever
    What about the atmosphere.
    Stifling.

    Note:  Readers  might be asking themselves if this case of abuse could get any worse.  It can and does.
      
    NEXT EPISODE

  • EPISODE …HOME CHILDREN..”OUR GUTTER CHILDREN CARTOON

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