Seldom is it that the law-abiding citizens of Almonte allow their angry passions to rise, or to tear each others’ eyes out. But last week a most ludicrous conflict occurred in which the principal actors were the proprietors of two woolen mills and their respective employees.
The bone of contention between them was the proprietorship of a small piece of mill property upon which one of the parties, apparently trespassing, attempted to erect tenter bars for stretching cloth. This was perceived by his neighbour who ordered him to stop. The first party refused, and the neighbour’s foreman promptly threw the tenter bars and his opponent into the nearby river. One thing led to another until a battle took place pitting workers of the mills against each other. Weapons (handspikes and crowbars) were obtained, but fortunately no blood was spilled.
Combatants struggled in and around the water with slight interruption for three hours. Peace was finally restored when one employee produced a seven-barrelled ‘pepper box’ revolver and threatened all combatants with it unless the brawl ceased. Only after the fighting did stop was it revealed that the small revolver had not been loaded.
- No 1 Rosamond Mill. CLICK HERE
- Coleman Island, Lot 18
- As James Rosamond was building the second Victoria Woolen Mill in Almonte, he realized that with the coming of the railway, the mills would be too small. He began acquiring property on Coleman’s Island near the falls which was occupied by a tannery and residences. Between 1857 and 1867 he acquired six parcels of land. The Coleman Island Mill was built in 1866 – 1867. The first building was a six story stone building, six wide by twelve windows long, centred by a tower.
- In 1872 a three story dye house was added on the north end of the building and a 45 foot by 130 foot warehouse and a 40 foot by 45 foot counting house was added on the south. In 1887 a four story north addition was built connecting the dye house. Also, a four story addition was built connecting the main building to the counting house.
- The counting house was demolished in 1880 and the south wing extended to Ramsay St.
- The New Counting House
- A new Counting House for the No. 1 Rosamond Woolen Mill was added to the west end of the warehouse in 1880. This complex is now the home of the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum.
The pepper-box revolver or simply pepperbox (also “pepper-pot“, from its resemblance to the household pepper grinder) is a multiple-barrel repeating firearm that has three or more barrels grouped around a central axis. It mostly appears in the form of a multi-shot handheld firearm. Pepperboxes exist in all ammunition systems: matchlock, wheellock, flintlock, percussion, pinfire, rimfire and centerfire.
The pepperbox should not be confused with a volley gun (like the seven-barrel long gun made by Nock), a firearm that fires multiple projectiles simultaneously by use of multiple barrels.[1] The difference is that a volleygun fires all the barrels simultaneously while the pepperbox is a repeater. The pepperbox should also not be confused with or as a development of the Gatling gun, which fires rapidly by the use of rotating multiple barrels.
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The Drought of 1871 and the Mills on the Mississippi River
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