“There’s a Fire in the House!” - Arson at the Sovereign Hotel

Sovereign, Sask. prior to the 1915 fire that destroyed the hotel (far right).Source

“Afraid of what?” Inspector A. W. Duffus, RNWMP, asked chambermaid Molly Kelly, a witness at the preliminary hearing of William Shinbane. The former owner of the Sovereign Hotel was charged with setting fire to his own property on March 29, 1915. “I thought there was going to be a fire,” was Molly’s answer, reported by the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix on November 11, 1915. “What made you think that?” queried the inspector. “Oh, it was common talk among the employees that there was going to be a fire at the hotel,” Molly testified. “Mrs Mitchell the cook said that she did not think Mr. Shinbane would set fire to the house until his wife went to Winnipeg where she was expected to make a visit in a few days.” (Mrs. Anna Shinbane was pregnant with her second son, Berel Shinbane, who was born in Winnipeg on June 2^nd, several months after the fire.)

Headline in the Saskatoon Daily Star, Nov. 10, 1915

The chambermaid had been so nervous that she went to bed fully clothed on the night that fire destroyed the Sovereign Hotel . She had only been working at the hotel for two weeks but the gossip among the other employees that the hotel was going to burn down made her nervous. Sure enough, in the early morning hours of March 29^th she woke up to the smell of smoke coming through the transom window of her third-floor room. She managed to rescue her trunk and escape from her room unharmed. The Shinbane’s 4-year-old son, Edward (Ted), was not so fortunate. The toddler was badly burned on his legs and posterior during the fire. 

The Shinbanes

Source: Sovereign: Mileposts to Memories, 1981

William Shinbane was born to Jacob and Leah Shinbane in Vilna, Russia in 1886. He came to Canada as an infant, settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba where his father ran a general store. He married Anna Schwartz on January 24, 1911 in Winnipeg. After their wedding, the couple planned to settle in Lemberg, Saskatchewan where William’s brother Morris lived. By 1915, they were the owners and operators of the three-story hotel at Sovereign, built in 1912 by Chris Hoeschen, brother of Ben Hoeschen, manager of the Saskatoon brewery. And, by November of the same year, William was charged in incendiarism (arson) for torching his own property. Sovereign is located 26 km southeast of Rosetown on Highway 15.

Insurance Companies Balk

Saskatoon Daily Star, March 23, 1915

On March 29, 1915, the Saskatoon Daily Star reported that there had been “a small epidemic” of hotel fires in Saskatchewan after Premier Walter Scott announced two weeks earlier that Prohibition was coming to the province starting on July 1^st. These fires on licensed premises were viewed with great concern by the fire insurance companies operating in the province. “Every insurance company has been dreading a general outbreak of fire among the hotels since Premier Scott made his announcement,” a company representative told the Daily Star. “We saw it coming and most of us believe that this is only the beginning. All we can do is to make the closest investigation possible in every case.”

 

Star-Phoenix, April 22, 1915

By April 22, six hotel fires in the province, including the one at Sovereign, were under investigation by Fire Commissioner R. J. McLean. Several fire insurance companies cancelled all their hotel policies in the province, while others scaled down their risks. “Some [companies] state that under no circumstances will they insure hotels for more than two-thirds of their estimated value,” one insurance company representative told the Star-Phoenix, “while others put the limit at 50 percent. Still others decline in future to carry any insurance of hotels whatever.”

Preliminary Hearing

On November 4, 1915, William Shinbane was arrested in Winnipeg and brought to Saskatoon for trial. His preliminary hearing began on November 10^th, and the testimony given at the three-day hearing, such as that from Molly Kelly, provides a revealing glimpse into the operations of a small-town Saskatchewan hotel prior to Prohibition. 

Star-Phoenix, Nov. 11, 1915

Sam Musik, the Sovereign Hotel’s porter and furnace man testified that on the night of the fire, he had made up the furnace fire and tended to two dogs that were kept in the cellar. At about 2:00 a.m., he awoke to sound of his employer calling, “Sam! Sam! Fire!” His room was thick with smoke so he only had time to grab his coat, hat and shoes before exiting the burning building via a rope through the window of his room. When he got to the ground, another hotel employee loaned him a pair of pants. After the fire had done its damage, Musik testified that Shinbane came to him and said, “Sam, you keep quiet, my father has lots of money and you won’t lose a cent.” Shinbane owed Musik over $300 in back pay. The porter also testified that he had presumed the two dogs in the hotel’s cellar had perished in the fire, but that two days later a man named Henry Mitchell told him that he had gone down to the cellar at about 11:30 p.m. and taken out the dogs. When Musik told his employer, Shinbane responded, “Sam, you keep quiet.” Shinbane gave Musik $30 for a train ticket to Winnipeg, but when he asked for the $335 still owed to him in back wages, Shinbane told him he could not pay him until he secured the money that was coming to him from the insurance companies.

Bohemian-American Cook Book., 1915. Source

Mrs. Mitchell, the hotel’s cook, barely escaped the hotel fire with her young daughter. She was awakened by Mr. Shinbane calling to her outside her room. “Mrs. Mitchell, for God’s sake get up, there’s a fire in the house.” The cook had no time to dress as her room was already filled with smoke. She lost all her belongings, including $200 in her trunk. She testified on November 11^th that when she got outside to the street, she heard Molly Kelly accuse Shinbane of setting fire to the place, but she didn’t hear his response. Questioned about how business conditions were at the Sovereign Hotel, Mrs. Mitchell stated that Mrs. Shinbane had frequently volunteered that business was “very bad.” She also testified that for about a week prior to the fire, the Shinbanes “had been busy packing up the hotel bed and table linen and the curtains and that these were stored in boxes on the landing” when she went to bed on the night before the fire. The smoke was so thick as she descended to the lower floor that she could not see whether the boxes were still there, but she did not run up against them during her escape.

Sylvester (Sid) Herrick, hotel boarder and handyman, testified that on the night of the fire he had been in Molly Kelly’s room until midnight. “Was there any talk of the possibility of a fire in the hotel while you were up in Miss Kelly’s room,” P. E. Mackenzie, the Crown prosecutor asked. “Yes,” was Herrick’s answer. He also stated that there was a small tank of gasoline at the back of the building which was used for gas-lighting purposes in the hotel. “We were all waiting for it to explode,” he said. All of the witnesses for the prosecution stated that they could smell gasoline as they exited the burning building.

Henry Thomas, representing the eleven insurance companies who held policies on the Sovereign Hotel and its contents, testified on November 11^th that the total insurance on the building, furnishings, liquor and cigars was $23,900. “He said that since the fire the accused had submitted schedules of the values of the loss which totaled $34,946.25,” the Daily Star reported. “That while the policies were made out to William Shinbane, the losses were payable to the Hoeschen-Wentzler Brewing Company, Saskatoon, and to Jacob Shinbane to the extent of $13,000 to the former and $10,900 to the father of the accused.”

Saskatoon Daily Star. Nov. 11, 1915

Despite defense lawyer Donald Maclean’s statement that there was not sufficient evidence to connect the accused with the fire, Inspector Duffus bound Shinbane for trial at the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan. Duffus said that while there was no overwhelming presumption of guilt, there was, in his opinion, enough evidence for the case to go to a jury. 

What Happened?

Star-Phoenix, Nov. 12, 1915

And this is where the case goes cold. So far, I have not been able to find any newspaper story or other reference which can tell us what happened as a result of Shinbane’s trial. (Prior to 1918, there was a Supreme Court of Saskatchewan, but 1915 legislation created a new Court of King’s [now Queen’s] Bench to take over the trial functions of the Supreme Court, which was abolished effective March 1, 1918. Thus, I need to do more digging if I am to discover the Shinbane case records.) Based on what I learned (see below), it looks like William Shinbane got off. Maybe his case didn't even go to trial. His brother, A. M. (Mark) Shinbane, fresh out of law school at the University of Manitoba, attended William's preliminary hearing. Mark went on to have an illustrious career as a lawyer in Winnipeg. Click here to learn more. Perhaps the Shinbane family found a way to maneuver through the court system and help William, Anna, Teddie and Berel get back on their feet again.

William's brother, A. M. Shinbane at U of M, 1915. The Manitoban.

Here’s what I do know. By 1916, according to the Canada census, William and Anna Shinbane and their two boys were living in Swan River, Manitoba, where he worked as a general merchant. In the early 1920s, the family moved to Los Angeles, California. The US census for 1930 shows Shinbanes still living in LA where William worked as a building contractor. Two of his brothers, Hyman and Morris, also lived in LA. William Shinbane died on June 29, 1931 and is buried in Los Angeles.

Record of Shinbane's border crossing, 1923. Source: familysearch.org

The hotel at Sovereign was not rebuilt after the 1915 fire.

©Joan Champ, 2019

Elfros Hotel Fire

Greg Madsen photo. Source

An early morning fire on October 9, 2014 gutted Tequilas Hotel hotel in Elfros, a small community in east-central Saskatchewan. The owner Justin Thordarson told CTV News that the fire started around 4 a.m. No one was inside the hotel at the time. The RCMP and the provincial Office of the Fire Commissioner said the fire was not considered suspicious, but they were continuing to investigate to determine a cause. Thordarson said he is not sure whether he will rebuild the hotel.

Greg Madsen photo. Source

There had been an earlier hotel, the Golden West, in the early 1900s.   

Golden West Hotel, 1913 Source

Golden West Hotel, Elfros, c. 1912. Source: From Prairie Trails to the Yellowhead, 1983.

The hotel that burned in 2014 had been a fixture in the community since 1933. In the 1930s, Choy Tin Joe applied for a liquor license for the hotel in Elfros. In 1947, George Kirtzinger from Lashburn, Saskatchewan, and his uncle, Otto Lingle, bought the Elfros Hotel. George managed the hotel while Otto was away racing horses. In the fall of 1949, George married Edith Taylor. They moved to Cudworth to farm for two years and then back to Lashburn with their family of four children.

Tequilas Hotel, c. 2012, Google street view,.

Thordarson has owned the hotel, now called Tequilas, since 2007. After the fire, he was not sure whether he would rebuild the hotel.

Fire at Lafleche

CBC Saskatchewan News. Photo by Evelyn L'Heureux

On May 21, 2013, the 100-year-old Flying Goose Inn was destroyed by fire at Lafleche, Saskatchewan.  The fire, which likely started on the smoker's deck outside the bar, was discovered at 9:00 p.m.  Evelyn L'Heureux, who owned the hotel with her husband Larry, said it didn't take long for the three-storey hotel to burn. "The Lafleche fire department was there, and then as it progressed, Larry decided that we should call in the Kincaid fire department and Gravelbourg," she said.  "I turned around half an hour later and all the farmers came in from the field and had their water tanks loaded on the backs of their trucks. There they all were, lined up like a convoy, waiting to help.” Source  Click for video

Origins

Hubert and Marie Brooks

The 30-room hotel, originally named the Hotel Metropole, was built in 1913 - the same year that the village of Lafleche was incorporated.  It's original owners were Frank X. Brunelle and Hubert Brooks.  Hubert Brooks and his wife Marie moved their family to Lafleche from St. John, North Dakota, in June of 1913 to operate the Hotel Metropole.  Hubert, age 50, had been a general store merchant in St. John.  When his store burned down, he decided to make a change, attracted perhaps by advertisements offering homestead land in the Canadian West.  Brooks and his sons did try their hand at farming near Lafleche, however they soon gave up due to rough and stoney land. Source

 

Hubert Brooks' son Aime helped run the hotel (named on cash register). Source

100 Years Later

Larry and Evelyn L'Heureux bought the hotel, now called the Flying Goose Inn, in 1996.  The couple added an eight-room motel in 2003, and the old hotel building was used only for the bar and restaurant. "We have tried to keep the decor of both the bar and the restaurant in connection with the wildlife theme and many visitors have taken the time to enjoy the artwork displayed," the hotel web site stated. "The Flying Goose Inn also showcases the local talent that we have in our area including a championship boxer as well as some local rodeo talent." Source  In 2010, the L'Heureux put the hotel up for sale, asking $465,000. Source

Flying Goose Inn, c. 2010.  Google street view

Reflecting on the loss of the hotel in May of 2013, Evelyn said, "It's devastating because it was a vital part of the community. People had been going there for many, many years before we even owned it. We did many things there too - weddings, funerals, graduations - and that's the sad part of it, that the community has lost a vital part of their town," Source

Click here  for video of CTV Regina's tour of Lafleche in 2009.

© Joan Champ, 2013

 
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Wolseley Hotels: From the Empire to the Leland

Leland Hotel, 2010. Image source

Wolseley’s first hotel was a primitive affair. Built in 1883 by W. D. Perley and E. A. Banbury, the one-storey, wood-frame building had a canvas top.  A more substantial hotel called the Leland was built in 1901 by Robert E. Hall and his wife, Eliza. Meanwhile, Perley and Banbury built the brick three-storey Empire Hotel on Sherbrooke Street.  In 1923, when the Leland Hotel was destroyed by fire, the owners bought the Empire Hotel and renamed it the Leland.

William Dell Perley and Edwin A. Banbury

Edwin and Edith Banbury, 1886. From

Bridging the Past: Wolseley and District, 1880-1980

Wolseley’s first settler, Edwin Ashely Banbury, arrived from Ontario at what was then called Wolf Creek in 1882. William Dell Perley arrived that same year with his young family after being defeated in a provincial election in New Brunswick. Both men started farming, and soon afterwards built several small businesses, one of which was the wood and canvas hotel. A fellow named G. Swift wrote a letter to his aunt in 1899, in which he described the conditions in the hotel in Wolseley:

I was shown a room, I’ll never forget – Very small, rough boards, not finished. Old fashioned bed, washstand and chair, and no lock on the door. (I should have been thankful there was a door.) So I had to barricade it by pulling the bed across and piling a stand and chair between it and the side of the house. … The bed was unmade from the last occupant, so no getting undressed that night. … In the morning after putting things back in place I went down to get breakfast. I found a room where five or six men were sitting down to a table made of three rough boards put together, there was no cloth to cover them. I was told to sit down and asked if I would have some porridge. Not knowing what that might be I asked if they had anything else, and was told they had some beefsteak so ordered thinking that I would enjoy that after my long trip. When it was served I found my knife was not sharp enough to cut it. I drank my tea and returned to my room for my coat.

Car race in Wolseley, 1912, with Empire Hotel on right. Source: Bridging the Past

In 1906, Perley and Banbury built the Empire Hotel on Sherbrooke Street.

W. D. Perley. Source

W.D. Perley was elected to the Northwest Territorial Council for Qu’Appelle in 1885.  In 1887, he was the first elected MP for the riding of East Assiniboia. After only two years, Perley resigned to accept an appointment to the Senate in 1889.  He served on the Senate until his death in 1909.

Banbury died at age 97 in 1955. Source

Edwin A. Banbury was the co-founder, along with his brother Robert, of the Beaver Lumber Company. His hotel venture provided him with the capital he needed to establish Banbury Bros. Lumber Company in the 1890s.  A series of mergers and takeovers with partners and competing firms led to the formation of one large lumber company in 1906.  A name was needed that had something to do with wood.  Edwin Banbury came up with "Beaver" which remained the company’s name until 1999, when it was taken over by Home Hardware. In 1886, Banbury married W. D. Perley’s daughter, Edith. They had eight children, three of whom died from diphtheria at a young age.

 

The Leland Hotel

Windsor Hotel on left, before the 1905 fire.

From Bridging the Past

In 1901, Robert E. and Eliza Hall built their first hotel, the Windsor, on the corner of Sherbrook and Front Streets. This wooden building burned down in 1905, along with most of the other buildings on the street. The Halls, who were among the first homesteaders in the Wolseley area, then set about building a new, three-storey brick hotel on Front Street, half a block west of their first hotel. 

Hotel Leland, centre, c. 1920. Image source

The Leland Hotel, as it was called, had distinctive arched windows on the second floor. The Halls had two children, Herbert and Pearl. Robert ran the hotel with the helped of his son. When Robert retired and moved to Victoria, the Leland was operated by Pearl and her husband, Charlie Corbett.

In the middle of the night on October 6, 1923, a fire broke out in the basement of the Leland Hotel. Within four hours, the hotel burned to the ground. All of the people inside the hotel at the time managed escaped with their lives. About half of the 30 occupants were guests – mainly commercial travellers; the rest were regular roomers, boarders and hotel staff. The building filled with dense smoke, and some people had great difficulty finding their way to an exit. The proprietors of the Leland, Pearl Corbett and her four children, were among the first to be rescued. Some of the hotel guests had to jump from the upper floors. Others lowered themselves from the windows of their rooms with ropes. One salesman crawled down the hall on his hands and knees, through the acrid smoke, only to fall down the stairs. He managed to get out the front door with only a few bruises. 

Leland Hotel after the fire, 1923. From Bridging the Past

According to the Morning Leader, Frank Vincent, the postmaster for Wolseley who roomed on the hotel’s third floor, had the most spectacular escape. “Overcome by smoke in his bedroom he could only be reached by a couple of ladders,” the newspaper recounted. “The upper ladder was held from the top of the lower ladder by two men while the third assisted Mr. Vincent over the window sill and down the perilous upper ladder.”

The heroine of the disaster was Gladys Macdonald, the night telephone operator in the telephone building at the rear of the hotel. She called the police and fire brigade, and then stuck to her post throughout the conflagration, while “every minute the telephone building was threatened with destruction by the flames and was enveloped with dense smoke for hours.”  None of the contents of the hotel was saved. People lost everything except the pajamas they were wearing as they escaped the blaze. Click here to read the full story of the fire on page page 12 of the Morning Leader.

The new Leland in the former Empire Hotel building. From Bridging the Past

After the fire, the Corbetts and Grandma [Eliza] Hall bought the Empire Hotel and renamed it the Leland Hotel. This hotel was purchased by Victor Hunter and family in 1971. Vic Hunter was still the owner in 2010.

© Joan Champ 2011