Wednesday 14 September 2011

Sometimes, Time Does Stand Still


We’ve all heard about the long history of Murray Premises – the building but sometimes we forget that along with the building, there’s a long history of businesses that have operated here.  People who showed up at the door each and every morning, ready to put in a full days’ work.  

Occasionally, little things stand out as reminders though.  The other day, I was in a guest room and happened to glance at one of the beams and noticed that some counting hash marks were engraved into the wood – four vertical lines with a slash mark across the middle.  Rumour has it that this was a typical method of counting fish in the A.H. Murray Company was operating right down on the harbour.  

I wonder if any of you could guess what this is?  




A couple of years ago, we were lucky enough to be able to purchase the original time clock for the A.H. Murray Company dating back into the 1800’s.
The Dey’s Dial Recorder from W.A. Wood Company of Montreal, shows the number of each employee around the circumference of the large dial on the front of the machine.  The employee recorded their starting and stopping time by positioning the pivoted pointer arm to their own number and then pressing it into the guide hole, thereby printing the exact time opposite their number on a prepared sheet in the machine.  Remarkable!  

Do you know of any antiques or artifacts that you’d like to share with us?  We’re always eager to hear about anything that you might have that links to our past. We look forward to hearing from you.