Item

Alfred Jones, Proprietor Seaside Inn

St. Croix Courier
Oct. 14, 1937
New Facilities for Entertainment Being Built at Seaside Inn
Promenade, Diving Platform, and Other Sports Equipment for St. Andrews Hotel
Mr. and Mrs. Jones Leaving for England
St. Andrews, Oct. 12—The Seaside Inn will be a special attraction to visitors to St. Andrews in the future as a long-felt necessity for the entertainment of guests is now in course of construction. The lot directly opposite the Inn is being converted into a pleasure spot with special attention to bathing facilities.
            A promenade over seventy feet long has been constructed overlooking the beach, and will be finished with a rustic rail and furnished with rustic chairs and benches. Several bathing \houses will be constructed a the end of the promenade and an old Wharf will be converted into a diving platform.
            In addition to bathing and as variety from the luxury of sun bathing, there will be other sports provided for on the green. Among these are tennis, clock golf, quoits, croquet and the popular game of darts.
            Miss Marjorie V. Clarke, the Proprietress of Seaside Inn, went to England last December and stayed as a guest of A. W. Jones and family at his suburban home in Essex, a few miles from London , and was therefore able to enjoy the gay life of a London season. Mr. Jones and Miss Clarke were married in the spring and spent their honeymoon on the continent, visiting the French Riviera, Italy, Holland, Belgium and many other places of interest, arriving back at London in time for the Coronation after which the returned to St. Andrews and have since enjoyed a splendid business season.
            Mr. and Mrs. Jones will be leaving for England again this week and during their absence Mrs. Lucy Storr will have full charge of the Seaside Inn until their return the middle of next May. Mrs. Jones has a very prosperous business in London which requires his presence at least six months of the year.
           

St. Croix Courier
Aug 4/1938
Shiretown Items—New Tennis Court. The grounds at Seaside Inn are rapidly improving under the supervision of the proprietor, Mr. Jones. A tennis court is being constructed giving employment to several men. Blue clay is being hauled from the beach at Indian Point, which is spread on the court and tamped down by hand. It is a slow and tedious process but will ensure a court of uniform consistency, and when rolled will give a smooth, hard, and durable surface.
            Worrell notes that with the paving on NB highways, cycling is becoming popular again in a revival of its hey-day in the gay nineties.

St. Croix Courier
May 2/1940
Shiretown Items—Many Ups and Downs. At the regular meeting of the Kiwanis Club last week Alfred Jones was the guest speaker. His talk was an odyssey of his personal wandering through Europe and Asia from the time he left his home in London, England, a boy in his teens, down to the present, and although perhaps not as thrilling as the story of Ulysses, which most of the audience remembered having learned after laborious thumbing through a Greek vocabulary, it was much more interesting, being told in plain English. Mr. Jones spent many yeas in Russia and at the time of the great Revolution had a prosperous business of his own in Petrograd. After three months of danger and hardship, living on oatmeal and black bread when such could be had, he escaped with his family. His entire savings, amounting to a quarter of a million dollars were confiscated. He got as far as Japan safely, and finding it impossible to get transportation from there to England for his family decided to open up a business in eastern novelties. Having made satisfactory contacts with dealers in London he soon worked up a thriving business and was once more well on the road to prosperity when his warehouses and most of the contents were destroyed in an earthquake. He then returned to London and became interested in the wood wool industry. This business continued to grow and prosper until the outbreak of the present war made it difficult to obtain supplies from the Scandinavian countries. it is Mr. Jones’ aim now, not only to get his supplies in Canada but to have the finished product manufactured here as well, and his aim is hour hope. Mr. Jones is a perfect example of the old and true maxim that “you can’t keep a good man down.” He married a St. Andrews girl, Miss Marjorie Clark, and is now proprietor of the Sea-side Inn. He has made many improvements to this property since coming here, and in many ways has proven himself to be a good citizen. His advice and support would be invaluable when and if a Board of Trade is re-organized here.

St. Croix Courier
Oct 31/1940
A Tilting We May Go—Mr. Jones, proprietor of Seaside Inn, has brought in the wind-mill, which was formerly used for pumping water at the Clark farm, and is having it erected on the lot used as a playground for guests at the Inn. Before the waters system was installed we had several of these contraptions about town. Although they are picturesque in appearance, there is perhaps no contrivance more conducive to insomnia. I lived within a stone’s throw of one for several years and attribute any inclination I may have towards profanity, to unprintable expressions composed during sleepless nights at that time. It may have been the attached pump which caused most of the racket. The rest of the rigging kept well oiled may run smoothly and quietly enough. If not is it likely to produce a local Don Quixote.

St. Croix Courier
Nov 21/1940
Shiretown Items
Perfect Food and Service
Mr. and Mrs. Jones, proprietors of Seaside Inn, are to be highly complimented on the efficient catering at the Kiwanis banquet. As one approached the table and let his eye wander idly over the yards of snowy linen, noted the decorative candles all alight, the bowls of fruits, dishes of jellies and olives, plates of rolls, a frit cock-tail at each place, six young and attractive table girls in spick-and-span white line, and caught the first faint and delightful aroma of roast turkey as the door to the serving room swung open, it was enough to make one’s mouth water in anticipation. The food was deliciously prepared and there was plenty of it. Paper crackers on being exploded were found to contain colored paper caps and conundrums which helped t put everybody in a happy mood. If this is a sample of the service offered guests at the Seaside Inn, it is no wonder their house was full to overflowing during the past summer, when others complained of a poor season. Visitors to St. Andrews are just discovering this attractive and comfortable stopping place, and it would seem that townspeople would be safe in sending any inquiring tourist there without incurring the risk of a “comeback.”

St. Croix Courier
March 6/1941
Shiretown Items
Japan
Kiwanian Jones [Alfred Jones, of Seaside Inn] was the speaker at the club’s regular meeting lat week, giving a talk on Japan, and things Japanese—everything from cherry blossoms and Geisha girls to Typhoons and Earthquakes. Mr. Jones, had been in business in Russia for several years, but being obliged to leave there at the time of the Revolution, he sought a passage home to England by way of Japan. Finding it impossible to get a passage from the later country for his wife, he decided to remain there till times were settled. He secured a god position with a Japanese exporting concern through the good offices of the British Consul in Yokohama and remained there for two years. England and Japan were allies at that time and he found the people very friendly—especially the Geisha Girls. He helped to expand the business in which he was engaged by opening up new lines and making favorable connections in London, and on leaving Japan, which he did not without regrets, he opened a branch in London, where he remained until the firm of which he was now a partner, was put out of business by the disastrous earthquake at Yokohama in 1923. He then went into the excelsior business and it was in connection with latter that he made the discovery of St. Andrews, a spot he now calls home. Mr. Jones passed around various articles illustrative of Russian and Japanese handiwork. The Russian samples were of metal, plated with gold and silver and embossed with beautiful designs in colored enamels. The Japanese articles were carved from ivory and were intricately and elaborately done. An open-work sphere about two inches in diameter, contained five other completely separated spheres within—and all carved from one solid piece of ivory!

St. Croix Courier
Sept 11, 1941
A Credit to the Community
To all persons who are interested in the progress and attractiveness of the town it would be well worth while to become a guest at Sea-Side Inn, at the price of a dinner, in order to have the opportunity of going over the grounds to see the improvements Mr. Jones has made there in the past couple of years. When Mr. Jones came here the Inn was just a small hotel with comfortable rooms and good food. But now across the street on the water side, in an excellent tennis court, a lawn for clock golf, and best of all and most popular, a fine, clean, sandy bating beach where guest may bask in the sun at all times of day and swim at high water. The beach is sheltered on three sides by piers, neatly face with small upright poles. A boom, which rises and falls with the tide, keeps the beach clean from rock weed and other drifting refuse. The boom extends about forty yards off-shore and has a raft attached for those who wish to dive. A promenade is provided out over the water on one side for those of the guests who simply wish to walk and watch. On one pier a tall pole supports a familiar figure representing labour, who plies his buck-saw as long as the wind blows. On a pole at the end of the promenade is seen an aeroplane wind-mill. On the tail are these letters S.S.I.O.K.C.A., which always arouses the curiosity of the guests. They stand for “Sea Side Inn O. I. come Again!” Surrounding the lawn are several cottages divided into four room apartments, all with hot and cold water, toilet and shower bath. For rainy days there is a room for billiards and pool and other for the once more popular game of ping pong. The apartments all have original names such as Beach Cottage, Sunshine Villa, ?The Chalet, Love Net, Snuggery, Harbour View, Cozy Corner, Crackers. There is a story behind the naming of “Crackers” which is worth tell at another time. Altogether Mr. and Mrs. Jones have a very attractive place where one hundred guests can be accommodated in luxury at modest rates. They have had a successful season, which they deserve. Former guests who returned this year were enthusiastic over the improvements. The tennis court was in use every fine day all summer and one day Mr. Jones counted forty-five in bathing togs on the beach or disporting in the invigorating tide. In this later fact there is food for thought for the local Board of Trade. If a private individual an provide an attractive bathing and swimming beach for his guests, why can not the own provide similar accommodations for the hundreds of others who come here in the summer and inquire for a public bathing beach, only to be disappointed.

St. Croix Courier
Sept 25/1941
Shiretown Items
Crackers
A story which illustrates the intuitive and enterprise of Alfred Jones, proprietor of Sea-Side Inn, and also the speed of Frank Gilman and his crew is behind the odd name “Crackers” seen on one of the cottages connected with the inn. It seems that a bride and groom arrived at the Inn one evening last year looking for accommodation, only to be told that everything was taken. They said they had heard of St. Andrews and the Inn from friends and had planned all year on spending their honeymoon here. After some pondering and head scratching Mr. Jones told them to come back in 24 hours and he’d have a place for them. He then got busy. he first induced Frank Gilman to leave the job he was on and give him one day’s work with his crew of three men. Mr. Gilman went down and prepared an order for lumber which was on the spot the next morning before 7 o’clock. Then an old shed on the grounds began its transformation. It was raised and levelled. A hardwood floor was laid, walls and ceiling covered with beaverboard. The roof and sidewalls were shingled, door and windows placed. By the time Mr. Jones got back from St. Stephen in the afternoon, followed by a load of furniture, beds and fixin’s, bureau and chairs, curtains and rugs, the carpenters had finished, the place was wired for lights, and on installing the furnishings was ready for occupation. The young couple arrived promptly 6 o’clock, and on being shown their first home were delighted. They wanted to name it “Crackers,” which had no connection with its preparation, but in remembrance of their parents, who had spent many winters in St. Petersburg, Florida, where habitués are always called Crackers.

St. Croix Courier
April 15, 1948
Shiretown Items
Alfred Jones
It was with genuine regret that the many friends here of Alfred Jones learned of his sudden death. With Mr.s Jones he had been spending the witner in the south, Florida, Jamaica, and more recently in Trinidad, where he died. Mr. Jones was an upright, conscientious and enterprising citizenand will be greatly missed in St. Andrws. He was a man with extensive experience in travel and business affairs, and since settling here as proprietor of Sea-side Inn has done much to improve and build up the premises shared with his wife (nee Marjorie Clark), where hundeds have been coming to spend a sumemr holiday. He had plenty of good ideas and carried them out as far as his means would allow, making improvements each year, and catering to person sof moderate means he had one of the finest hostelies in the Maritimes. Mr. Jones was doing business in Russia when the rvolution broke in 1917. He had acummulated about a quarter of a million dollars but was forced to leave most of it behind when he escaped. He then spent two years in Japan where he built up once more a fair bank account before returning to his home in England, where with his son he establsihed a business which is still floruishing. On his first visit to Canada he came to St. Andrw and was so enamoured withits charms that he decided to remain here. He took a keen inte4rest in the affairs of the town and soon made a host of friends. His loss will be felt by the entir ecommunity and we wish to extend our sdeepest sympathy to Mrs. Jones in her time of bereavement.