On Thursday evening Mr. Bowman was advertised to address the electors at Pitt Town. At 7.30 a large crowd had gathered together, the greater proportion being boys. Mr. Bowman took up his position on the verandah, and Mr. Joseph Hobbs was voted to the chair.
The chairman requested that Mr. Bowman should receive a patient hearing. He would not consider that he was in a British speaking community if any attempt were made to prevent any man from giving utterance to his opinions. He knew they had a grudge against Mr. Bowman but he would ask them to hear him first, and condemn him, if necessary, afterwards, (applause and groans).
On coming forward, Mr. Bowman was received with a few cheers and all sorts of diabolical noises, which continued for some minutes. He said he was there to thank them for the honour they had done him last time by returning him with such a large majority. [Howls, and a voice "never again"]. He was convinced that he still had the confidence of the majority of electors. ["No, no"]. Well, he thought differently. [At this stage of the proceedings a very ancient egg, of considerable strength, was thrown, and struck the window-shutter close by where Mr. Bowman was standing. A scene of excitement followed. Constable Mc Mahon and Rogers went into the crowd and captured a young man who was alleged to have thrown the egg, though he indignantly denied it. Mr. W. Maxwell went up to identify the person, when some person went up and struck him down. He arose and made his way back to the verandah. Meanwhile, Mr. D. McDonald, proprietor of the hotel, had brought upon the scene a cask, to which was attached a long piece of rope. The rope was intended to act as a fuse, and it was well saturated with kerosene. He set the barrell down in the roadway and lighted the rope. The flames were quickly carried to the barrell, the flames from which quickly illuminated the surroundings. A number of persons got away to a respectable distance when they saw the barrell being lighted, expecting every moment to witness an explosion. Meanwhile the police, having secured the name of the person they had caught, released him, amidst the cheers and groans from the crowd, who were very excited all this time, and who objected to the street being illuminated by Mr. McDonald]. Mr. Bowman again came forward, and was received with howls of derision and cries of "Go Home", "We don't want you". He said he would go home when it pleased him, but like some of them he would not want any assistance. ["What about the Common."] Well if they had taken his advise they would have prevented the common from being taken. He advised them to seek the best legal opinion available, and they would see that the Government could not legally take the common. ["But they have taken it"] They had themselves to blame in great measure. (Uproar.) ["What about payment of Members?"] He did not believe in it. ["But you take the six Pounds a week?"] Of course he did (uproar), and would continue to do so while it was the law of the land but if any Member brought in a Bill, he would support it. [At this point two eggs were thrown by a youth on a horse, and they smashed against the wall. Then the burning barrell was strired up by Mr. McDonald, and some persons in the crowd objected to it being allowed to remain on the public road. Mr. McDonald, who was standing by, promptly said, "Perhaps you'd like to have it in your pocket," and picking it up he tossed it in amongst the crowd, which scattered right and left. Mr. Bowman waited all the time these proceedings were going on, and then walked out onto the roadway, and challenged the man - if he was a man - who threw the eggs to come forward, and he would punch his head there and then. He said he wanted no police to protect him - he would protect himself, if the thing who threw an egg at him would only come out of the crowd. But no one responded to the invitation, and after waiting some time that quietness might be restored, Mr. Bowman said that as they did not want to listen to him, he would retire. He left the verandah, amidst a volley of cat-calls, howls, groans, and other most excruciating noises.
M. J. Hobbs, the chairman, said that the proceedings were the most disgraceful he had ever witnessed. Here were hundreds of persons gathered together to prevent a man from speaking. They were a lot of curs and cowards, and he told them so to their faces. Three out of four of them were nothing but low larrikins, and amongst the prominent disturbers of the meeting he saw several persons who carried their heads very high at times. He didn't care for them. They wouldn't howl him down. (The speaker's remarks were heard in silence.)
The meeting being broken up, the crowd still remained round the hotel discussing the situation. Mr. Bowman left about 9 o'clock.
(Windsor and Richmond Gazette - 2nd May, 1891.)
The Windsor and Richmond Gazette of 20th June, 1891, reported the outcome of the election. Mr. Bowman won the seat, outpolling Mr. William Morgan 872 votes to 833. However, in Pitt Town, Morgan outpolled Bowman 103 votes to 41. A bullock roast at Pitt Town, in honour of Mr. Morgan, was held in August.
Some excitement was caused here on Wednesday evening, after the train arrived, when several volleys were fired in the air by the youth of the town. It appears that Mr. Albert Owens was recently married to a Miss Dunstan, and all Pitt Town procured blunderbuses (sic) and fire-arms of one kind and another to give the happy pair a welcome home.
(Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 26th July, 1890)
The Pitt Town resident who recently complained to Windsor Council that a neighbour's turkeys were starting to nest in holes in a council road, made handsome amends in a letter to the August meeting of the council.
Thanking the council and the men concerned for a very good job done, he added, "The poor turkeys have lost their nests, and just walk up and down the road looking forlorn. I am sure it will be a long time before they find holes there again."
(Windsor and Richmond Gazette, 26th August, 1953)
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