Person Page - 2362

Predeceased by her husband, Charles Wheeler.²

Predeceased by her husband, Orvald Arthur Gratias.⁶

Survived by his wife, Elizabeth Gratias.⁵

Gratias - Plaunt
     The marriage of Elisabeth Constance, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. X. Plaunt, of Montreal, to Dr. Orvald Arthur Gratias, of Montreal, son of the late O. A. Gratias. and of Mrs. Gratias, of Kinistino, Sask., took place on Saturday afternoon at three o'clock at Dominion-Douglas Church, Rev. A. Lloyd Smith, M.A., D.D., officiating. White lilies, ferns and yellow spring flowers decorated the church, Mr. John M. Walkley was at the organ, and Miss J. Cleghorn sang.
     The bride, who was given in marriage by her father, wore a gown of white net, having a Shirred bodice and a full skirt, and long, tightfitting sleeves. Her headdress was of orange blossoms from which fell a waist-length veil, and she carried a bouquet of full blown white roses.
     She was attended by Mrs. H. E. Houghton, her sister, of New York, as matron-of-honor, and by Miss Nini Keefer, Miss Sybil Doughty and Miss Jean Heubach, all of Ottawa. They were gowned alike in green net with lace, having insertions of the same color, and they wore headdresses of lily-of-the-valley and green net veils, and carried large bouquets of the same flower.
     Mr. Spry Davis was best man for Dr. Gratias, and the ushers were Mr. Alan Plaunt, brother of the bride; Dr. Jack Babbitt and Mr. Thomas O Dell. all of Ottawa, and Mr. Archibald MacFarlane, of New York.
     Mrs. Plaunt, the bride's mother, was in a gown of grey blue crepe Elizabeth, worn with a large deep violet hat, and a corsage bouquet of orchids.
     The reception was held at the residence of the bride's parents, The Gleneagles. where large vases of lilies, delphinium, snapdragon and lilacs were used to decorate.
     Dr. and Mrs. Gratias left on their wedding trip, the bride travelling in a frock of floral print with a jacket trimmed in chartreuse and a navy hat and accessories.
     They will reside in Montreal.
     Among the out-of-town guests were Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Allen, Miss Jean Dunlop, Mr. Allan Gibbons, Mr. Edward Duke, Miss Mary Scripture Mr. and Mrs. Eric Ellsworth, Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Watkins, Mrs. Hume Grant and Mr. McGregor Young, all o! Toronto; Miss Hazel Ross, of Quebec; Mr. H. v. Houghton, of New York: Mr. Neil Higgins and Mr. O'Donnell Higgins, oi Prescott; Mr. Elliott Norcross, Mr. and Mrs.' Alan Plaunt, Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Plaunt, Mrs. Jean McLean Innes, Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone Murray. Mr. and Mrs. Roger fiowley, Mr. Fred Toller, Mrs. F. G. Wait, sr., Lady Doughty, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Keefer, Mr. and Mrs. A. Skelton, Dr. and Mrs. A. E. Grauer, the Honorable H. A. Stewart and Mrs. Stewart, Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Villeneuve, and Mr. T. D'Arcy McGee, jr., all of Ottawa.³

The Story of Baldwin's Mill And of Mr. Alanson Baldwin
     Mr. Baldwin Was One of the "American Invaders" of The Fifties Mill Ran Till Hard Times of the Seventies, Then Failed Mr. Baldwin Had Two Mills, Owned Two Steamers and Fourteen Barges Was Generous and Vigorous Man, But Fortune Went Against Him.
     This is the story of Alanson Baldwin, of Baldwin's Mill, which was one of the pioneer saw mills of the Chaudiere. The Baldwin mill was started In 1854 and ran till the hard times of the seventies, when the Baldwin fortunes crashed with thousands of other fortunes in Canada.,
     The story is told by Mr. Joseph Manor, 626 Maclaren street, whose father, David Manor, came to Ottawa with Mr. Baldwin from Ticonderoga, N.Y. Before coming to Ottawa, Alanson Baldwin had owned a small saw mill at Ticonderoga and David Manor had worked for him. Mr. Manor, who was of Belgian descent, had come to Ticonderoga from Chambly, Que.
     When Mr. Baldwin and David Manor ' came to Ottawa in June, 1854, there was no railway into Ottawa and the trip had to be made via the Ottawa river. In November of that year the old Bytown and Prescott railway began to operate, thus giving the Ottawa mills freight shipments, both by rail and water.
     The Manor Family.
     When the Manors came to Ottawa there were four boys in the family David, Edward, Pete and Joe. Dave, the eldest, was six. Joe the youngest, the present narrator, was only 18 moths old.
     The family landed at a wharf at the foot of the present waterworks aqueduct. For a time they lived at the old Columbia hotel, and then Mr Manor put up a little frame house on Crown land just south of the suspension bridge. At that time on the government plans there was a public square just south of the bridge. The first Manor home was erected (by lease) on this square.
     First Mill.
     The first Baldwin mill (there were two later) was erected on the river side of the old Buchanan slide, not far from Bridge street. The first mill was a comparatively small one, but as business grew in the sixties Mr. Baldwin erected a second mill on the site of the present No. 1 power house of the Ottawa Electric Co, When business was at its height Mr. Baldwin employed over 150 men in the mill and turned out from 35 to 50 million feet of lumber per season.
     Other Mills.
     When Mr. Baldwin started here, the Bronsons and Capt. Young were already doing business. Prior to the coming of what was termed the "American invasion," there had been saw mills here. Philip Thompson had run a mill on the site where Mr. Baldwin began his operations. Philip Thompson had also run a flour mill.
     Lumber At Hand.
     When Mr. Baldwin started in Ottawa, lumbermen did not own vast limits up the Ottawa and its tributaries, as they did later. The lumber came from the immediate vicinity of Ottawa. In the fifties splendid pine was secured within a few miles of Britannia.
     But as the local pine supply thinned out, Alanson Baldwin secured a limit above Mattawa on Seven League Lake.
     By the mid-sixties the Baldwin fortunes were at their height. The two mills were running night and day and Mr. Baldwin owned two steamers and fourteen barges of his own, which hauled lumber to the United States market, via Lake Champlain.
     As To Shipping.
     The shipping portion of the firm's business was looked after by the late Wm. H. Baldwin, who died about a year ago.
     "Bill," as he was popularly known, was captain of one of the steamers, "Schicaluna."
     "Bill" was Mr. Baldwin's only son. The "Schicaluna" was built at Morrisburg.
     Hard Times Of 70's.
     Things went well with Mr. Baldwin till the hard times of the seventies set in. The business fell off; his cut lumber blackened in his yards; his barges lay idle at their docks. He was forced to borrow money. Business grew worse. The money became dire. When he could not pay, his business fell into th hands of the money-lenders. It is told by Mr. Joseph Manor when Mr. Baldwin failed in 1876, his total indebtedness was only $65,000, and his yard was full of lumber ready for the market. But It could not be sold.
     A Generous Man.
     Mr. Baldwin stayed in Ottawa and died here in his eighties. Mr. Baldwin was a man of fine parts. He was generous to a fault.
     It was told that after the great fire of 1870 in Carleton, many of the farmers, who lost everything, came to Mr. Baldwin asking for a little lumber with which to erect a shelter over their heads. They promised to pay as soon as they could "get on their feet."
     It is told that after listening to the hard luck stories (all very true) Mr. Baldwin would say, "All right, go to the yard and load up. Pay me when you can." These loads of lumber were never put on the books and they were never paid for, as Mr. Baldwin was out of business before any of the farmers who got it were "on their feet."
     Cut the Dam.
     Alanson Baldwin was the man who saved Ottawa at the time of the big fire of 1870, by cutting St. Louis Dam. The suggestion came from, Mr. Baldwin. During the worst danger period he turned the whole force of the mill to the business of beating back the fire from the city.
     Mill Staff.
     When Mr. Baldwin came to Ottawa in 1854 his first mill foreman was,one Frank Grimes, a Vermonter. He died here. Other mill fore, men were Fred Pearce, Sam Mix (brother of Josh Mix) and Henry Kennedy, father-in-law of the late John Bingham. Mr. Kennedy was foreman when the mill failed. The late James Purcell (Somerset street) was yard foreman for many years.
     Mr. Baldwin was not the only mill owner who felt the pinch of the seventies. Young's mill closed about 1877.
     Of Fine Appearance.
     Alanson Baldwin, was a man o! fine personal appearance. His clean shaven, regular features and dignified and benevolent appearance marked him anywhere in a crowd.²

I First Saw
     
ALAN B. FLAUNT, newly-appointed member of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corportion, at a Press Club meeting in Winnipeg last Saturday night, His modesty on that occasion, combined with his quiet air of competence, made one desirous of improving the acquaintance.
     Mr. Plaunt is an Ottawa man, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Francois Xavier Plaunt. The name was originally Plante, but the rugged Scots of Ontario knew a darn sight better than any Frenchman how it ought to be spelled. Mr. Plaunt is 32, a graduate of St. Andrew's College, Toronto, and Toronto University: and holds an M.A. in history from Oxford. His business at present is lumbering, in the Ottawa firm of which his father is head.
     After graduation from Oxford, he returned to Canada to become a member of the Canadian delegation to the second biennial conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations, under the chairmanship of Hon. Newton Rowell. The conference met in Kyoto, Japan, that year, so Mr., Plaunt's home-coming to Ottawa was merely a brief halt before pushing on to the Far East.
     En route to Kyoto, the Canadian delegation toured parts of China, and met the rising dictator, Chiang-Kai-Shek. Mr. Plaunt was impressed by Chiang-Kai-Shek, but more so by his wife, a lady of high intelligence, who is a member of the famous Chinese family of Soong. Among her relatives are some of the most eminent personages at Nanking. and the late patriarch of Chinese nationalism, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, was also related to her.
     From Kyoto, Mr. Plaunt speeded across Russia by train, through Germany, and down to Cairo, where he met his parents. Some Mediterranean wanderings, including visits to Palestine and Baghdad, preceded his return home. In Palestine, his observations made him sympathetic toward the Arabs, who were. being dispossessed by rich Immigrants.
     o o o
     Upon his return to Ottawa in 1930, Mr Plaunt became associated with Graham Spry former Winnipegger, in the formation of the Canadian Radio League. This organization was designed as a central assembly for all public societies, such as the Canadian Legion and Trades Union Congress, interested in promoting radio as a public utility. It gave a voice to what might be called the "general public" point of view toward Canadian radio, as opposed to special interests.
     "So far as the councils of the Board of Governors go," Mr. Plaunt said, "I am especially keen on speaking on behalf of the West. I feel that Western Canada is solidly behind the idea of a public service, non-commercial radio, which is the ideal toward which I believe we are aiming. Since I have been here I have had some very flattering evidences that Western people are looking to me to express that point of view, and I certainly hope to do so, Easterner as I am. I appreciate very deeply the confidence the West is putting in me"
     o o o
     The Canadian Radio League held its inaugural meeting in the Chateau Laurier, Ottawa. in 1930. Since then its most important work was done at the parliamentary committee on radio in 1932, which resulted in the Radio Broadcasting Act of that year. The views of the Radio League were expressed to some extent in that act, Mr. Plaunt said, but the type of commission ultimately formed was not what they had hoped for, as it combined the legislative and administrative functions in the persons of the three commissioners. The present system, whereby the advisory board of governors, dealing with matters of policy, was separated from the administrative organization under the general manager, was more in keeping with the plan advocated by the League.
     It seems probable that even if the project wildly hoped for, of a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation headquarters in the rightful centre of the Dominion -Winnipeg -does not come about the West will nevertheless have a worthy exponent of its views in one of the Eastern board members at least.²

ALAN B. PLAUNT OF RADIO, DIES
     (By Canadian Press.)
     OTTAWA, Sept 12 — Alan B. Plaunt, 37, one of Canada's earliest and leading exponents of public control and operation of radio, and a former member of the board of governors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, died early today. He had been ill for some time.
     Mr. Plaunt was named to the board of governors of C. B. C. in 1936 and resigned only last October.
     When he resigned he said he was doing so because: "I feel that as a public trustee I should not continue to accept responsibility for the Internal organization and executive direction of the corporation when I have long ceased to have confidence In It"
     At the time of his appointment to the C. B. C. board Mr. Plaunt was best known as one of the founders of the Canadian Radio League. He was then engaged in research work for the Canadian Institute of International Affairs and was associated with the Harris Tie & Timber Company of Ottawa.
     He received his early education in Ottawa and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1927.
     He attended Oxford University and graduated with an M.A. degree in history in 1929. He returned to Canada and from that time onward took an active interest in radio.
     At the time of his resignation Rene Morin, chairman of the board, said it was the board's belief there was "no justification" for the resignation.
     Mr. Plaunt is survived by his widow, dorothy (sic) Reynolds Pound, formerly of Vancouver, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. X. Plaunt, of Montreal, and four sisters.³

(photo) TO LIVE IN EDMONTON — H. A. Dyde, KC, of Edmonton, and his bride, the former Dorothy R. Plaunt, will travel to Edmonton to make their home, following a wedding trip to the Laurentians. Photo by Newton
     Dorothy Plaunt Wed Saturday To H. A. Dyde Of Edmonton
     At a Saturday afternoon ceremony in All Saints church, Archdeacon G. C. Hepburn solemnized the marriage of Dorothy R. Plaunt. widow of the late Alan B. Plaunt of Ottawa, and daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Pound of Vancouver, and H. A. Dyde, KC. of Edmonton, who is the son of the late S. W. Dyde, former principal of Queen's Theological College, Kingston, and Mrs. Dyde, Edmonton.
     The bride was escorted to the altar by the Hon. Brooke Claxton who gave her in marriage. Her attendants were Mrs. Lilias T. Newton of Montreal, and her daughter, Miss Frances Plaunt, who acted as flower girl.
     Ray Milner, KC. of Edmonton, was best man for the groom.
     For her marriage the bride chose a gold dress with matching hat.
     Following a reception at the bride's home, Mr. and Mrs. Dyde left for a wedding trip to the Laurentians, and later will travel to Edmonton to make their home.³