Details of Railway Incidents in the Ottawa Area
1893, April 17 - A Special Train Leaves Perth with a Mammoth Cheese for Chicago World's Fair
 Library and Archives Canada 3224178 "The Mammoth Cheese" leaving Perth, Ontario en route to World's Columbian Exhibition, Chicago  This is a replica of the block of cheese made in Perth in 1893. Ottawa Journal 5 April 1893 The Big Cheese is Good Inside. Professor Robertson of the Experimental Farm, was in Perth on Wednesday, testing the mammoth cheese before its shipment to the World's exhibition at Chicago. A bore into the big mass was made and the bit taken out was tested and examined, and pronounced to be wholly satisfactory. The cheese will be forwarded to Chicago in about a week, and a huge truck upon which to transport it from the railway station in that city to the exhibition building has been built in Perth by Mr. M. Stanley, who has shown much skill and ingenuity in designing and constructing it. Renfrew Mercury 7 April 1893 The big Perth cheese is now being put in order for the Chicago Exhibition. The hoop is being painted as nearly as possible the color of the cheese, and when on exhibition it will be placed on edge, the faces being lettered with statistics of the cheese itself and the cheese trade of Canada. As the railway tracks into the Exhibition building have been taken up, it is necessary that a truck should be built to carry this immense cheese, which, with case, weighs 13 tons, from the station to the Exhibition buildings. This truck is now being built by Stanley, of Perth. The cheese will be placed on it here, and will remain in that position at Chicago. The truck, which will of itself be quite an object for exhibition, will accompany the cheese to England. It is built of oak, most of the pieces being 8 by 10 inches, and on it is placed a powerfully built frame of the same material, on which the cheese will rest. The axles are of steel set in oak frames, and the wheels are of cast iron and about 30 inches high, somewhat similar to car wheels but with tires 8 inches wide. The truck itself will weigh about three tons, and when loaded, about 16 tons. The job is a first class one and a credit to Perth. - Expositor. Ottawa Citizen 14 April 1893 A SPECIAL CHEESE TRAIN WILL CARRY THE CANADIAN MITE TO CHICAGO The Eleven-Tonner Will Afterwards go to England In a poster which the Department of Agriculture got out to-day some interesting particulars about the mammoth cheese are given. It is stated that 207,200 lbs. of milk were used in making it, this milk being equal to the milk for one day in September of ten thousand cows. The cheese weighs 22 thousand pounds, it is encased in a mould or hoop of steel boiler plate, 5-16 of an inch thick and a pressure of more than two hundred tons was applied to make it perfectly solid. It measures 28 feet in circumference by 6 feet in height. The special train carrying this cheese will leave Perth at 7 o'clock on Monday and as this "Canadian mite" and its carriage will be on open cars, it may be seen at the several stations on the C.P.R. all the way from Perth to Windsor. Residents along the line of the C.P.R. will be able to calculate the time at which the train will pass the stations and train will pass the different stations and abundant opportunity will be given for them to see the monster cheese. A special truck has been made for transporting the cheese through Great Britain, whither it will be sent after the World's Fair closes. Ottawa Citizen 17 April 1893 OFF GOES THE BIG CHEESE PERTH IS RIGHT PROUD OF THE CANADIAN MITE The Special Train will be Bravely Decorated with National Emblems - Some of the Companions of the Greatest Cheese in the World - A Trip One of the best things said about the big cheese was the remark of a jolly Irish farmer from Lanark, who drove into Perth the other day on purpose, to see it. "Why," said he, after sizing up its immense proportions with great satisfaction, "if skippers ever get into that cheese they'll be as big as woodchucks. " That was one of the numerous stories that people of the granite town told for the delectation of the crowd of folks who went there on Saturday to take a last look at the big cheese before it left for Chicago. Among those who went up from Ottawa was a party composed of professors Shutt and Craig and Mr. Dillon, from the Central Experimental Farm; and representatives of the Empire, Globe, Mail, Evening Journal and Citizen, all under the convoy of Professor Robertson, the Dominion Dairy Commissioner. Perth was reached about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and, after luncheon the visitors, accompanied by Mr. J. A. Roddick, the expert in charge of the Perth dairy station, Mr. McLennaghan, M.P.P. and Mr. Sorley, of the C.P.R., proceeded to the railway yard, where the big cheese and the special truck on which it is to be transported, had just been placed on flat cars. THE BIG CHEESE
In the freight sheds were any number of cheeses, big and
little, destined to form part of the Dominions dairy exhibit at the
World's Fair. Many were of the ordinary external appearance of Canadian
cheeses, but there were half a dozen boxed up in polished open boxes
that commanded special attention. These cheeses were from the famed
dairying district of Lancaster, and weighed half a ton each. But how
little they seemed in comparison with the "Canadian mite" standing on
the flat car just outside. Encased in its riveted steel covering and
painted the dun color of the smokestack of a British man-of-war, it
looked more like the water tank of a wayside railway station than
anything else it could be compared to. The figures denoting its
dimensions give a very imperfect conception of its size. Its diameter
is the full width of the car, and standing at its base a tall man could
not quite touch the top of it. THE TRUCK
The truck on which it is to be transported to and from the
railway stations is a massive affair, weighing three and a half tons.
It is provided with stout upright frames front and rear. From each of
these hangs a long eye-bolt and into these eyes, or journals, the
trunion, or pivits [sic], at the sides of the cheese casing can be
fitted, so that by twisting the screwballs the big cheese can be raised
from the platform of the truck and turned on its pivots, after the
manner of the big iron buckets they use on the docks for discharging
coal. It will be necessary to turn the cheese several times while the
ripening process is going on. As the truck is getting painted and
varnished, and a profuse display of bunting provided for, the whole
will present quite a showy appearance. The good people of the substantial town of Perth, whose solidity shines in stout stone buildings and in stores with an unmistakable air of solvency about them, take a patriotic pride in the great cheese and all connected with it. They did their very best to entertain the strangers who came to see it on Saturday, and from the hospitable hearts over and over again apologized for the wintry appearance of the place, as if the snowstorm were a local visitation instead of a general condition extending the whole length of the Ottawa Valley. With a good deal of pride they pointed to the makers name upon the truck: " M. Stanley, Perth, Ont; " and even in the crowded railway station kept a way clear so that everybody might see the handsome device that local talent had prepared for the ornamentation of the cheese display. This consisted of a pair of huge maple leaves, cut from sheet iron, and colored in all the gorgeous autumnal tints of the Canadian National emblem. They were designed and painted by Mr. R. J. Drummond, the local manager of the Bank of Montreal. They will be placed one at either end of the cheese truck and will constitute a patriotic tribute of which Mr. Drummond may well feel proud. ROUTE OF TRAVEL
Today the whole exhibit will start from Perth by special
train for Chicago, stopping at several of the principal towns en route
between Perth and Windsor. The stopping places have been advertised in
advance and no doubt the "cheese train" will receive abundant attention
as it passes through Ontario.At the close of the Chicago World's Fair the cheese will be taken to England by the world-famed Lepton [sic] who has contracted to exhibit it in every city in the United Kingdom as the "Great Canadian Cheese," afterwards it will be cut and sold in Lipton's 300 retail stores in Britain of which there are ninety in the city of London alone. Ottawa Journal 17 April 1893 BOUND FOR CHICAGO CANADA'S ELEVEN-TON CHEESE OFF FOR THE WORLD'S FAIR The Biggest Product of the Kind in the History of the World - The Cheese to Make a Tour of Great Britain and Ireland. At the invitation of Professor Robertson, Dominion dairy commissioner, a number of correspondents of outside daily newspapers and representatives of local press left by the 11:35 a.m. train Saturday for Perth for the purpose of viewing the mammoth cheese which is to form part of the Canadian exhibit at the World's Fair. This monster cheese was made under the superintendence of Mr. Robertson at the Dominion experimental station, Perth. Reference has already been made to it in THE JOURNAL, but there are interesting facts which have not yet been recorded. THE WEIGHT AND CONTENTS
In the first place the cheese weights 22,000 pounds. All
together 207,200 pounds of milk were used in making it. That quantity
of milk is equal to the milk for one day in September of 10,000 cows. It is incased in a mould or hoop of steel boiler plate 5-16 of an inch thick, and a pressure of more than 200 tons was applied to make it perfectly solid. 28 FEET AROUND
It measures 28 feet in circumference by six feet in height,
and all together is a sight well worth seeing. That is by far the
largest cheese ever made, the dimensions coated above will satisfy any
doubting "Thomas" upon that point. It will be the most conspicuous part
of the pyramid of Canadian products which will be exhibited at the
World's Columbian Exposition. At 7:00 a.m. to-day, the Canadian Pacific Railway company will run a special World's Fair cheese train from Perth, so that the idea presented itself to Mr. Robertson to give an opportunity to the newspaper representatives at the capital to see the "Canadian mite" before it left. A SIGHT FOR THE CURIOUS
The carriage of the cheese is placed on open cars so that it
can easily be seen by the public. A schedule of time has been prepared
and posters have been sent to all the railway stations ahead, showing
what time the train will arrive, so that all who desire to see this
marvelous production can do so. A special truck has been made for transporting the mammoth cheese through Great Britain after it leaves Chicago. During his highly successful tour in Britain Mr. Robertson made arrangements for showing the cheese in all the leading cities of England, Scotland and Ireland. Not only at Chicago but in the old country the cheese will be a splendid advertisement of the vastness and quality of Canadian dairy products. TOO HEAVY FOR CHICAGO'S ROADS
It was Mr Robertson's intention to have his cheese drawn on
a wagon by eight horses to the exhibition grounds in Chicago but the
directors of the fair objected for fear that the wheels of the wagons
would cut up the roads too much. It will require to be taken on the
railway cars.Windsor Star 18 April 1893 THE MAMMOTH CHEESE Will Arrive in Windsor To-night on the C.P.R. Express. Canada's mammoth cheese, "Le Fromage Elephant, as our French friends would say is expected to arrive by the C.P.R. this evening at 7:25 town time. The cheese was made in Perth, Ont., and weighs 22,000. At Chicago it will form the base of a pyramid of Canadian cheese, ranging in size from the "mite" is 22,000 pounds, then 1,000 pounds down to two ounces, the total weight of the pyramid being 32,000 pounds. Windsor Star 19 April 1893 The big cheese arrived at the C.P.R. station last night about 8 o'clock and went on its way to the World's fair this morning at 9:30. Almonte Gazette 21 April 1893 The mammoth cheese. Canada's Mammoth cheese - "Le Fromage Elephant," as our Quebec friends term it - was an object of interest to the people of Perth, last Saturday. During the week one side of the C.P.R. shed, in which the monster was made, was knocked away to allow it to be taken out, and Saturday the work of finally loading the cheese on a railway truck was successfully accomplished. A party of newspaper correspondents, representing all the leading newspapers in Canada, went to Perth Saturday under the tutelage of Prof. Robertson, Dominion dairy commissioner, in whose brain was conceived the idea of manufacturing this cheese as a "big" advertisement for Canada. The weather was too stormy to admit of an outdoor demonstration in the nature of a "send-off," but during the day several hundred people visited the railway station to see the "mite". The newspaper men mounted the railway truck in order to better gauge the size of the cheese, and unanimously came to the conclusion that it was a whopper. At Chicago it will form the base of a pyramid of Canadian cheese, ranging in size from the "mite" of 22,000 pounds, then 1,000 pounds down to 2 ounces, the total weight of the pyramid being 32,000 pounds. Accompanying the mammoth, but on a separate truck, is a wagon or lorry, weighing in itself three tons, on which the big cheese and the pyramid will rest at Chicago, and this lorry will afterwards go to Great Britain for the purpose of carrying the cheese through the streets of the leading cities. By means of stanchions it will be a comparatively easy matter in Chicago to turn the cheese every two or three weeks. Ottawa Journal 28 April 1893 NEWS OF THE BIG CHEESE Fully 20,000 Names Written on the Box en Route Prof. Robertson, Dominion dairy commissioner, returned to the city this morning from Chicago where he safely landed the big cheese for the World's Fair. To THE JOURNAL Mr. Robertson said : "It just took the cheese a week from the day it left Perth and it got to the Canadian department without the least bit of injury and now it is the talk of everybody at all interested in daitying. It will be a feature of the fair and a big advertisement for Canada. There are no other big cheeses and ours will be a monopoly in that line. "A funny thing about the trip was that at every station the train stopped out, the people crowded on the flat car the cheese was on, and wrote their names on the box. By the time it reached Chicago there must have been fully 20,000 autographs. There was not two square inches of space left. "The Canadian department as a whole promises to do full justice to Canada, and beneficial results may be looked for." Ottawa Journal 2 May 1893 Prof. Robertson received a telegram informing him that the big Canadian cheese had crashed through the flooring of the Agricultural building at the opening of the World's Fair. The cheese will be raised by machinery and replaced in position at once.  The Cheese on Exhibition in Chicago (Library and Archies Canada) The big Canadian cheese at Chicago scored 95 points out of a possible 100 on being tested a few days ago. The Gazette, Montreal 15 November 1893 The Big Cheese Coming The great Canadian cheese which has been on exhibit at the World's Fair, will arrive in Monreal to-day and will be on exhibition at the Dalhousie square depot of the Canadian Pacific railway. Ottawa Journal 15 November 1893 THAT CHEESE AGAIN Montreal November 15. Canada's mammoth cheese has arrived from Chicago and will be placed on the steamer Laurentian for shipment to England where it will be exhibited by Lipton, the English merchant prince. Ottawa Journal 16 November 1893 The mammoth cheese passed Perth on Sunday last (Nov 12) on its way from Chicago to England. It looked all right. The wagon is still here having some repairs made ny Mr. Stanley. It stanched an overhead beam at the Detroit Ferry. The cheese and waggon will be shipped at Montreal on Friday. - Perth Expositor. The Gazette, Montreal 16 November 1893 --- Canada's Mammoth Cheese "Mammoth cgeese ferom Canada, weight 22,000 pounds" in prominent letters is the incdription on the side of an immense tube that rests on a Canadian Pacific railway flat car in the Dalhousie Depot yards. --- Almonte Gazette 25 May 1894 The big Canadian cheese that was made in Perth has been subdivided into one hundred pound packages for general distribution. |
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