‘Peculiar fatality’ on canal in 1923

paid for his passage himself, and had $30 in his possession.

In 1912, while in Pennsylvania, he married Elizabeth ( Lizzie) Norris, also of Scotland. Border records show him applying for admission to the Port of Buffalo in December 1914. Then one more crossing — the ship Tunisian arrives in St. John’s, N.L., on March 23, 1919, bearing Lizzie and David Kennedy, bound for Toronto.

Why the many voyages? Certainly all of these destinations were shipbuilding centres. Were jobs transitory, or difficult to keep, or was David homesick for Scotland? It is all only speculation as few records related to Kennedy have survived.

By March 1924 Kennedy was working as a foreman of ironworkers for the Canadian Dredging Co. Ltd. He had been living in Midland, Ont., for several years and was sent by his company to oversee the repairs of some scows at Lock 21 of the third canal in Thorold. As is typical for early March, the ice and snow were beginning to

David Kennedy, 39

Born: Jan. 16, 1885 (Dumbarton, Scotland) Died: March 3, 1924 (Section 3, Thorold) How: Struck by falling ice at Lock 21 of the third canal Job: Foreman, Canadian Dredging Co. Ltd. thaw. On March 3, 1924, the worst happened.

According to report (“Peculiar Fatality”) of March 4, Kennedy and three other workers had just placed a scow on timbers to ready it for repairs. He had gone onto the timbers to make sure the scow was resting properly. Suddenly a huge chunk of ice about 16 inches by 20 feet, and weighing about one ton, slid from the deck, striking him on the head and shoulders and pinning him to the side of the “pockets of the scow.”

His three comrades raced to his aid. Morgan, his sub- foreman, Niagara test deck.

The highway will remain multicoloured for now though.

Mendonca said the surface markings will be allowed to gradually wear away over time.

The test deck will be covered up when the rest of the highway around it is comes up for resurfacing. narrowly avoided being crushed by ice himself. They were too late and Kennedy died instantly. A coroner’s inquest held at the public library verified the cause was accidental death; a block of ice had crushed his spine and fractured the base of his skull.

Kennedy’s body was returned to Midland, where his wife was still residing. He was buried in St. Margaret’s Roman Catholic Cemetery. He and his wife had no children. The next year, his widow remarried.