The Fenwick "papers"
The News-Chronicle, Oct 7, 1938
J. M. Hansen, it is claimed, says Dodd found the relics in the cellar of 37 Machar Avenue, which Hansen owns.
But Dodd says that the relics were brought to Port Arthur to his home at 296 Wilson Street, before he moved to 37 Machar Avenue, and that when he moved into the Hansen houses (37 and 33 Machar Street) he took them with him from 296 Wilson Street which wasn't owned by Hansen.
It would appear from the records and other testimony that Dodd is correct. It seems to be established that he found the relics about the beginning of June 1931; that he didn't move from 296 Wilson Street to the first Hansen house till June 29, 1931.
It was first established by rent records that the Dodds had lived at 296 Wilson Street, owned by the Ruttan Estate in 1931. The following shows several addresses since 1928 of Mr. Dodd on the Port Arthur city voters' list:
- 1928 - 1931, 296 Wilson Street
- 1932, - 27 Machar Avenue
- 1933, - 33 Machar Avenue
- 1934 - 1937, - 74 South Algoma Street
As a railway man always on call for duty, Mr. Dodd had to have his telephone moved promptly from one house to another. The phone company's records show that his phone was shifted as follows:
- From 296 Wilson Street to 37 Machar Avenue on June 29, 1931; thence to 33 Machar Avenue on September 18, 1931; to 74 South Algoma Street on March 9, 1933; to 354 Bay Street on Oct. 2, 1937.
- The city directory gives these addresses:
Year 1929 - 296 Wilson Street
Years 1930 -31, (one directory was issued for two years) 296 Wilson Street
Year 1932 No directory available
Years 1933 - 1937, - 74 Algoma Street
The most accurate and the most important of the above records is that of the phone company, kindly furnished by manager Chandler of the Public Utilities Commission of Port Arthur. It makes clear that Mr. Dodd moved from 296 Wilson Street (owned by the Ruttan Estate), to 37 Machar Avenue (owned by J.M. Hansen), on June 29, 1931; that he moved from 37 Machar Avenue to 33 Machar Avenue (also owned by Hansen), on September 18, 1931; and that he moved from 33 Machar Avenue to 74 South Algoma Street (not owned by Hansen) on March 9, 1933.
As Hansen made more or less distinct allegations about the ownership of the Norse relics in 1938, the above records should be kept in mind. There are other records bearing on the case to be quoted later.
According to half a dozen people whose testimony has been secured the relics were first brought to Port Arthur when Dodd lived at 296 Wilson Street.
About 1923, a young man came to Canada from Norway. His name was Johann or John Bloch, and he was known to his friends there as Lieutenant Bloch. It seems he had spent a year at the military school in Oslo, Norway, but it is suggested, didn't make a success of his studies there. He said that his father was an artist, and J.M.Hansen, a carpenter, forty years out from the northern part of Norway, was one of the Norwegian colony and became acquainted with Bloch. The first Port Arthurite apparently to meet Bloch was Carl Sorenson, Royal Norwegian vice consul at Fort William.
To be continued:
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