Little did Emily know that one of her uncle's inventions, the Bloomer Disrobing Solution, would save her life and the lives of many young male Londoners too.

London, Ontario, Canada was a city bursting with modernity in the 1880s. Muddy wagon ruts were replaced by gravel and paving stone roads, a telephone exchange and electrical street lighting were established, several modern steel bridges where thrown across the mighty Thames River, an electric street-car line was created, and regular bathing had become more than a passing fad of the ruling classes. In 1880 this thriving young city was already home to a major psychiatric hospital and the brand new Western University. Perhaps this is why city father and brewery magnet John C. Blitz said with such enthusiasm at an 1880 Victoria Day rally "This fair and gentle city stands today as a shining beacon to idiots and scholars from across the dominion!" From out of the west, like a hot wind from a prairie wild fire, it was to this bustling modern city that Emily Chesley and her uncle Michael Flannigan came in 1880. Flush with a small fortune from some of his early patents, Michael Flannigan had felt compelled to move to the more civilized east. Scholars have debated Flannigan’s motives for moving to London from Unity Saskatchewan.

The Flannigan family, including Emily, settled in a rambling Victorian mansion on Princess Ave. With steady royalties from Flannigan patents Emily was able to join polite society as a woman of means. The money was good in those days with the success of inventions like the vibratory earwax remover, a device which enjoyed early popularity in spite of side effects that included severe pain, dizziness, headaches and, occasionally, explosive cranial bleeding. Emily missed her pals from the Unity detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police but soon found solace and companionship among the ranks of the 7^th Regiment. The regiment’s parade grounds, most conveniently, were only a few blocks away at the present location OF Victoria Park. While Emily missed the mounts of the Unity detachment, the young men of the 7^th were quick energetic and wore familiar red tunics. While the regiment accepted Emily completely, Emily had less luck fitting in with the ladies of London who were suspicious of her wild western past. Behind her back she was sometimes referred to as "that Western woman" or "the Irish dirt cutter." Emily ignored these slurs and enjoyed everything the city had to offer, from shopping in its bustling downtown to "taking the air" through long carriage rides to the surrounding townships.

Though filled with more than enough heart-ache, Emily's life was to see even more tragedy in that palindromic year, 1881. Illustration showing the Victoria Disaster. (Reproduced from the National Library of Canada's website (www.nlc-bnc.ca).)

Emily’s idyllic early London days came to a tragic and sudden end on May 24 1881. On this beautiful spring day Emily accepted an invitation from a sergeant of the 7^th regiment to join him, on the paddle boat Victoria, for a short cruise up the Thames to Spring Bank Park. The sergeant, a Norwegian named Lars Horstadt, was a strapping figure of six feet with a wide chest and huge handle bar mustache. They must have cut quite dandy figures, he in his red tunic, she in a fine dress with matching parasol. Sadly the Victoria never made it to Spring Bank Park. At a bend in the river, near the present day location of the Guy Lombardo Bridge, the Victoria listed and capsized. This became known as the infamous Victoria Disaster. Of the Londoners thrown into the water that day, 185 perished including Lar Horstadt whose mustache became tangled in a metal deck chair which dragged him to the bottom. Most of those who perished were women whose voluminous Victorian clothing became saturated with river water, weighing them down under the surface of the rather shallow Thames river. Emily’s life was spared due to one of her Uncle’s inventions, the Bloomer Disrobing Solution (also known as "the rogue’s friend" or more simply "the snap"). Intended as an economical way for women to quickly relieve themselves of the several layers of heavy bloomers, the snap consisted of a network of tension wires, a spring, and an unobtrusive switch located in the small of the back.

Employing the Bloomer Disrobing Solution Emily was able to shuffle off her soaked garments. Now wearing only a boostier and one of her uncle’s other inventions, the thong, Emily searched in vain for Lars. Nearing exhaustion she swam to shore, followed by a number of young London men. One of the young men, Phenias Hornblatt, eventually became one of Canada’s leading essayists. He recalled the incident years later in his memoirs with the story Moon in the River.

. . . The Victoria died on her side with a final belch of smoke and flame from her funnels as the coal stirred in her belly. From everywhere around us in the river there arose cry of desperation. In the chaos I was quite disoriented and sure that I might well perish with the other confused young men who were splashing about. Then my eyes fell on the most incredible sight, a curvaceous buttock breaking the surface of the muddy Thames. It shone white in the May sunshine. Then it was gone. Then, a stir a few yards away and there it was again. Then again it was gone. Then, right in front of me, like an Arthurian vision of the Lady of the lake, she surfaced. She looked like a wild desperate Venus searching for her Adonis. She turned and labored toward shore again displaying that heavenly flank. We followed . . .

Phenias Hornblatt, seen here in 1898. Hornblatt grew his famously ludicrous facial hair after Emily told him about her drowned lover, Lars Horstadt, and his huge handle bar mustache that she so much admired .  In his 1921 biography, Hey Hornblatt!, Justin Theway wrote: "Phenias never outgrew his infatuation with the Speculative Songstress of the Southwest, and refused to shave off his silly moustaches, though it caused him to be a social outcast at times."

Phenias Hornblatt, and the other young men who followed, later credited Emily with leading them out of the confusion to safety. But there was to be no hero honors for Emily ashore as her attire caused a major scandal. The Thong Bank Incident was considered so outrageous that it was expunged from contemporary accounts of the Victoria Disaster. Some still say it never happened.

There were still great times ahead for Emily and her kin. In Emily’s midst there was a man whose genius, inventiveness, and shear entrepreneurial drive would carry Ontario and all of Canada into the 20^th century. A man whose mechanical knowledge and political acumen would lead to this country to harnessing and taming the great powers of nature. A man who, in short, would make a real difference for future generations of Canadians. Unfortunately, Sir Adam Beck is the subject of other biographies and shall be mentioned no more in this one. Michael Flannigan did OK too.

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