On May 25, 1883 George Chaffey wrote a letter to William Johnston. George Chaffey relays various information about the Ontario Colony: Rent is double what it is in Kingston, Canada. The schools are “first class.” Other than the cost of rent, the cost of living is the same as Kingston, Canada. Employment is readily available for hard workers. This last point George Chaffey emphasizes, writing, “the principle trouble with the men who come here is they are a vexing lot–cut shady therefore, a level man is always in demand.”
Next, George Chaffey mentions the “Plain Statement” letter published in the British Whig (see my last post for more information about this). Apparently George Chaffey tracked down the author of this anonymous letter. George Chaffey expresses his disdain for the author by explaining that he never met George Chaffey or even visited Etiwanda and Ontario, even though the author lambasts Etiwanda in “A Plain Statement” specifically. Furthermore, George Chaffey explains, the author has been sick with typhus fever which George thinks means the author “has been induced to evil and allow himself to be used as a catspaw.”
“Catspaw.” This word gave me pause. What is a catspaw? Apparently this is a reference to a fable called “The Monkey and the Cat” in which a monkey convinces a cat to use its paw to retrieve food that is roasting over a fire. Once the cat uses his paw to get the food, burning his paw in the process, the monkey steals the food. In this way the monkey uses the cat (and his paw) to the monkey’s benefit while the cat gets no benefit.
George Chaffey continues, writing, “I will catch the monkey however and warm his jacket.” Apparently, George Chaffey believes that the man who wrote “A Plain Statement” was writing on behalf of someone else entirely! The intrigue continues to build. Maybe a future letter will reveal who the Monkey is! By the way, I wasn’t sure the meaning of the phrase “warm his jacket” so I looked that up as well. So far I haven’t found any explanations for that phrase but perhaps it is another reference to “The Monkey and the Cat” fable.
In any case, it sounds threatening to me!
George Chaffey ends the letter writing that many of the settlers are writing to the British Whig to rebut the words of “A Plain Statement.” George Chaffey hopes that these letters will be published in the periodically shortly.
George Chaffey signs the letter “Yours & etc.,” which incidentally is now my new favorite sign off.