On his way to Kingston, Karl slept outside in train station buildings, saying that he was “trying to get tougher” although I suspect it may have been because he had no money.
But that was about to change.
Karl was set to receive some lapel buttons with his photo in Kingston and sell them to the “bicycle boys” at 15 cents each or two for 25 cents. He wrote to the local Truro news that any of the paper’s readers could also purchase a button if they sent their money in the mail to him, and, in return, he’d mail back the buttons.
Karl always wrote letters to his hometown newspaper with updates on his journey, but he also met with local journalists to get his story published in the town newspaper. All this publicity created some fame around Karl and he increased the audience of his story or his “followers” by today’s standard.
So, needless to say, while in Kingston, Karl visited the Whig Building, the home of the Kingson “British Whig,” a local newspaper publication founded in 1834. The Whig reported Karl’s visit, stating that “Mr. Creelman was a visitor at the Whig Building and described it as the finest newspaper office he has ever seen. He was through the newspaper home of Montreal and other large cities but stated that the Whig has the finest and most suitable home of them all.”
Following Karls visit, the Whig published an article about Karl on June 26, 1899 with the headline “A Round-The-World Rider” and included a sketch of his face. The journalist wrote in the article that Karl will be on a trip to “those countries and most remarkable places and sights in the world that every human being has a wish to visit before the final shuffling off this mortal coil.” The article shared that Karl had travelled a distance of 1,072 miles and had to walk 200 miles over rough roads, sand, and mud upon arriving in Kingston. In a conversation with a Whig reporter, Karl declared: “there are few sports down east, but as I travel westward, the spirit of sporting is much more in evidence. I have always wished to visit Ontario, and just here, let me say that I have not been disappointed in finding that the banner province of Ontario is all it is represented to be”.
When I arrived in Kingston, I had travelled 1600 kilometres by car and then I ran the last 100 meters down the hotel hallway. I ran as I was meeting one of my dearest childhood friends who I hadn’t seen in years. She was in town settling her daughter into Queen's University, it was her first visit to Kingston and her daughter’s first opportunity to check out the city that would soon become home away from home.
We had three days in Kingston, and we approached our exploration of the city from the perspective of the tourist, the historian following Karl, and the new local. We were all more than satisfied.
1870’s Kingston Harbour
Kingston is one of the oldest cities in Canada and was initially Canada’s capital city from 1841 to 1844. It’s a vibrant, walkable city, and to our appreciation, it has more restaurants per capita than any other city in Canada. We ate fabulous meals and poked our heads into the courtyards of those iconic restaurants in Kinston to see where we’d eat next. We scheduled a bus tour to visit the UNESCO designated Fort Henry, built during the War of 1812 and the largest fortification west of Quebec City. We walked the waterfront — which has the best freshwater sailing in the world — and enjoyed the oldest public market next to the beautiful City Hall.
While the annual infiltration of Queen’s University students breathes freshness and excitement to Kingston, it’s a city that maintains its character and traditions. Kingston didn’t disappoint Karl in 1899, and it has yet to disappoint me. This time, I was grateful to spend it with some special people in my life and share a visit to this historical and tragically hip city.
