Institute of Fisheriesand Marine Technology

College of Fisheries. Navigation.Marine Engineering and Electronics

SERVING THE PRESENT AND FUTURE NEEDS OF THE FISHING ,OFFSHORE OIL AND RELATED MARINE INDUSTRIES OFFERING

- DIPLOMA OF TEC HNO LOGY programs in Electrical & Electronics Technology,Food Processing Technology (Marine Products), Mechanical Engineering Tech­nology (Power and M~rine). Nautical Science (Merchant Marine and Fishing Tech­nology) , Naval Architecture and Marine Systems Design Technology

- CERTIFICATE OF TECHNOLOGY programs in Marine Electronics, Industrial ln­strumentation, Radio Officer and Smallcraft Design

- VOCATIONAL CERTIFICATE programs in Marine Electrical Practice, MarineDiesel Mechanics, Refrigeration Plant Operation, Marine Cook ing and Steward­ing and Marine Steelwork

- MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT CERTIFICATION programs (Marine Engineeringand Nautical options)

- APPR ENTICESHIP programs such as Industrial Instrume ntation Apprenticeship

- SHORT COURSES such as Seafood Processing, Marine Stewarding, MarineEmergency Duties, Basic Offshore Surv ival , Fast Rescue Boat, Trawler Deck­hand (Pre-Sea), Longliner (Pre-Sea) , Fishing Gear and Methods of Fish Findingwith Sonar

- EXTENSION programs including SHORT FIELD COURSES such as the Fish­ing Master Cert ificate, MED I, Marine & Outboard Motor Repair , Fish and Shel l­fish plant start-up and skill fraining , SEMINARSIWORKSHOPS such as ProblemSolving for Fish Plant Personnel, Taxation for Fishermen, Navigational Aids andFish Finding with Sonar , Helicopter Underwater Escape Training

- EVEN ING courses including Computer Basic I and II, Coastal Navigational andPilotage, Ocean and Celestial Navigation, Seafood Preparation, Small EngineRepair, Digital Electronics, Microprocessors, Home Preservation of Fish , Shell­fish and Game and Home Smoking of Foods

FOR FURTH ER INFORMATION CONTACT YOU R NEAREST CANADA MANPOW·ER OR REGISTRAR. COLL EGE OF FISHERIES, NAVIGATION, MARINE EN·GINEERING AND ELECTRONICS, P.O. BOX 4920 , ST. JOHN 'S , (709) 726-5272or EXTENSION FIELDWORKERS - MARYSTOWN 279-2527 ; STEPHENVILLE643-2728 .

...DECKS AWASH-

Volume 13, Number 6, November-December 1984

[rom the editor's desk

.. ... 5

I t seems impossible that 1984is almost over. It 'ssuch a short time ago that , as students, we read

George Orwell 's 1984and pushed his predictionsabout Big Broth er to the recesses of our minds ­after all, as that was so far in the distant Iuturewho needed to worry about 1984?And we could al ­ways consol e ourselves with the much touted the­ory that Orwell originally had intended to title hisbook 1948but reversed the final two digits at thelast minute.

Nonethel ess , this is the time of year for reflec ­t ion. Just what did go on this year? As one mansaid to the other, "Which do you want first . the goodnews or the bad news?" And whether the news isgoodor bad depends upon which side of the fenceyou sit.

Irs fair to say that a lot happened in Newfound­land this year. Fishery Products International, thesuper fish company, was formed ; the prot estgroups aU but eliminated the seal hunt ; Newfound­land lost its court battles with Ottawa, but gaineda "w orking agreement" (dubbed the Atlantic Ac­cord ) on the oHshore ; the trawlermen went onstrike in demand of a new wage agreement ;Kruger Incorporated agreed to operate theBowater mill ; Minv.:orth Limited announced itwould open a fluorspar mine again in St.

Table of Contents

Special Sect ion 3Hist ory .Th e area today . 2U51. La rence .. . 20La n . . . . 39Lord's Cove 0101Taylor's Bay , . . ............ ...46Point a u Gaul, .. . . . , 4gLa m aline . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Point M ay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 5-1Edito r ia l. . . . . 59

Lawrence; prospects for gold mini ng on the south­west coast improved ; the first Newfoundlandgrade 12students graduated from high school ; thePope visited ; we elected four PC MPs , and joinedthe national PC sweep; Sail Labrador Co. Ltd.bought the . .orma and Gla dys which subsequent­ly sank; a provincial byelection gave Newfound­land its first NDP MBA; a study wascommissioned on the Air Ambulance service forCoasta l Labrador ; the provincial debt continuedto grow ; the 12% provincial retail sales tax re­mained the highest in the country ; and a sleetstorm knocked out Bay d'Espoir on Friday, April13th.

That power failure caused many of us to returnto basics: candlelight, kerosene heaters, openfires, no television and little radio unless we hadhad the foresight 10 have laid in a supply of bat­teries. This holiday season might be another timeto return to basics 10 remember it is the seasonorgood will .

We thank all of you - our subscribers, our ad ­vertisers, all of you who have helped us this year.We wish you all a merry Christmas and health ,peace and prosperity for the New Year.

4~~.Lw.k.~

Features 61

lIome ga rde ning. . 61Aud ubon Chr istmas bird count.. . 62The wr eck of the Eve lyn.... . . . . 62Creating an a wa re nes s.... .. . 63A fishi ng trip in 1908 . . ..... . 65Aun t Soph's WPA . . . 66Buda pest . . .. . .. . . . .. . .. 68Letters , . 71

Editor . Sally ...... ~ M-.ner. .....nlen Chfford GriniiDI. Lionel WaWi f'botcIInpllll'n. Oifford GnIIIiJ:C,s.1Iy ...... ~ Y-..--. Lionel WakhProdul:Ooa aDd~~ Annec-.y.arroa.bOrI: H.udKarril.~~ u..-sity~.YftDoriaIUaMr·IJity ol~1ound1aad-~yvulaDdlJl'IDWll ~BIadmorePnlltilllandPublilhiaCLimiIed,StJaba "!IoTe-Pbota Llt~St~by Lionel Yoallh F... ~cuatactJIMiyQtw.Gn.If,Cin:WarRad.St JGbn" SF AlCZZ5 7Ji.:t-. Deo:'b Awub_ pubtioabedsu:tlJ'IIe.a _a1Iybytbe Ex1ftl&Klll~olYftQlWYIU.. WftllyoiSewfouDdland e-.diaDK'C'laI.aa.poItalpenrut ~o..-:s. PIl.taJ Staboa A NomalenalC'OlltaiDed herrin may ~",thwlpPml_fromtbeFAitor U.....lciledlD.ll~willbe~onIy.~~llItIdby.at.llQped~"~ftI\~kIpe-SubaoeriPU-iII"'iIIY11illble al stp« y"r ~ wt'illJlllo Drc:kaA....n. Mf'IlIORIIl Uruvenll yvl.~nd..St John 'a, Sf' . AIC~ ... lt phonl'737.fo1lW (beques ... money otden m.JIM pIIIyable 10 ;>'1 monal l ruven lty IIWtllC.'C'Oalpll nysublcripllona

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T HE PREMIER

THE GOVERNI,IENT OF THE PAOVIHCEOF NEWFOt./N[)U,NO ....NO LAIlRAOOf'I

Message fromThe Honourable A. Brian Peckford

Premier of Newfoundland and LabradorChristmas is th~ time wht!'n1 tuve the speciel privilege as Premier to offer my personal greetings and

best wish" for this most blessed and joyful time.In a world very different from that first Christmas, we teke comfort end hope in knowing that the age­

old message of peilC'r and good will on earth sutt livee.Our own Province hilSseen many changes in lifestyles and beliefs over the yeers, but Newfoundlanders

and Labradorians ha ve retained that speciei character and warmth which {ostere our sense of fellowshipsod gives us strength to tecechanges without losing our traditional values and goals. Christmas, then,is truly our season, for it is a time for the cooperation of wills, the strengthening of convictions, and therenewal of spirit.

Christmas is also a time for joy, and a time to take stock of our accomplishments. While our past hasnot always been easy, we can take pride in the filct that we have endured and grown. We are a Provinceblessed with rich resources end people ceosble and eager to develop them. With wise and cautious plan­ning we hdve brought ourselves to the brink of reaping the wedlth of our fish, forests, minerals and energyresOUTCf'S. We have confidence and hope for the future.

On the national scene, our Province looks forward to taking its rightful place in this nation. We hopeto contribute to and benefit from the Canadian family. We have the strength of our proud herit~ anddeer identity in this undertdking. We have fought long dnd hard for our goals and so understand the aspi·rstions of others. This combinetio n of strength, wisdom and tolerance is surely something to celebratethis Christmds.

1hope this Christmas will be d special and restorative occasion for all of you. As you take a few mo­ments to reflect on the birth of the Christ Child to give thanks for your many blessings, and to enjoy thecompany of family and friends, mey the special joys of Christm<Js be yours and mily the Christmas spiritcontinue to brightt'n your life throughout the year ahead.

Mt!'lT)' Chri5tm~!

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special section

PLACENTIA BAY

• Uwn/\M t\.~ lIttl:,.St. Lawrence

{ ...:._ ~St.Lawrence

• Lord 's Cove• Point au Gsul

FORTUNEBAY

PoInt May

St. Lawrence to Point May

4 - DECKS AWASH

SPECIAL PROJECTS - WORK ORIENTATION PROGRAMSHELPING PEOPLE IN CHOOSING AND FINDING JOBS

Canada Employment and the Division of Adult and Continuing Edu­cation together, ofter a variety of work orientation programsdesigned to help unemployed adults to become employed.

The target groups include re-entry women, youth, sole-supportmothers, and other unemployed adults. Whatever the backgroundof the individual is, the courses have one thing in common - theyare all geared to help people find their job in a competitive workforce.The sessions,offered full-time in a workshop setting, focus on topicssuch as:

1. The interests, skills, etc. , of the individual and relating theseto careers .

2. The mechanics of a well-planned job search, including resumewriting and interview practice .

3. Development of the self-confidence that impresses prospec­tive employers, and raises positive feelings about oneself .

More information can be obtained from Employment Centers, orat the 51. John's course site at 754-2770.

historySt. Lawrence

I n her book, NOles toward a history of St. LawrenceEna Farrell Edwards states, "St. Lawrence is popu­

larly believed to have been named by a group of ship­wrecked sailors from Sir Humphrey Gilbert's ship, theDeljght. which went down off Sable Island in 1583."Theship's master, Richard Clarke. left an account of theirarrival at a place which they named St. Lawrence, whichis believed to have beentoday 's Little St. Lawrence. Mrs .Edwards points out that Clarke is said to have returnedto Newfoundland in later years , and there has been a fa­mily of Clarkes in Little 51. Lawrence for a number ofgenerations.

That is not , however, the only theory. Mrs . Edwardsalso mentions that an essay by H.W.LeMessurier in 1910disputes this theory , claiming that 51. Lawrence wasprobably named by a Jerseyman who kept a room at theharbor. The community may also have been named bythe French as various earl)' French maps show 51. Laur­ent. It is also possible that the C. Lorenzo on the 1559-61map ot "Terra Nova" by Varrese at the Vatican in Romeis St. Lawrence. John Dee's map of 1578-80 also showsS. Laurens.

It is clear, however, that there were people living atSt. Lawrence as early as 1793 for the Reverend Evansreports that year was a bad one for the inshore fishery,mentioning that fishermen at 51. Lawrence caught only60 quintals each. St. Lawrence is also mentioned byGovernor Gower in 1807who reported there were "con­siderable" merchants and planters settled and carry­ing on a fishery at Great St. Lawrence.

A report dated 1824notes a school at 51.Lawrence dat­ing from 1817. There were 30 pupils in the charge or wtl­Ham Tuck whose salary was 15 pounds sterling annual­ly. The census of 1836, however, makes no mention ofa school in the community. At that time there were 263residents in 25 houses . The census reports there were23 Protestant Episcopalians, 31 Protestant Dissentersand 178 Roman Catholics in the community.

By 1845 the population had jumped to 396. There were120 flshennen and T1boats operating out of St. Lawrence.Roman Catholics dominated the Church of England by

R.C. Church & Presbytery, 1948. (Photo courtesy Ena Fat·relt Edwards)

OECKS AWASH - 5

Some of the SUrvIvors - U.S. Sailors at graveside of leltowshipmates. (Photo courtesy Ena Farrell Edwards)

325to 71. And there was once again a school in the com­mtmity with 65 pupils in attendance.

Church records show that Father Cullan establishedthe Roman Catholic parish of St. Thomas Aquinas at St.Lawrence in 1849 which, by 1857 had 390 parishioners.There were also 110 Church of England members andone Wesleyan. By this time 51. Matthew's Church of En­gland church had been built by Rev. John Cyrus A.Gatherole who had served the people of 51. Lawrencefrom the mission at Burin as early as 1847. The schoolnow had 116 students registered. The 132 fishermen nowwere involved in the seal fishery as well as the cod fish­ery as there were three sealing vessels with 12 crewmembers between them. There were 100boats involvedin the cod fishery and 7630 quintals of cod were curedthe previous year. There also were three merchants andtraders listed.

The first business establishment, however, was begunin 1860 by Celestine and Gregory Giovannini who im­migrated from Lucca, Italy. Their store sold dry goods,food stuffs, and fishing gear which arrived by coastalboat from Prince Edward Island. They brought fish fromlocal fishermen in return for goods.

In 1871 Sacred Heart Convent was opened by the Sis­ters of Mercy. They opened their first school that sameyear in a fishing shed with 95 pupils.

By 1898 there was a whaling factory at Little 51.Lawrence. It was owned by an American firm and ronby Captain Lemarkwell, The factory employed 50-60menand had two vessels, each with a crew of 10 Norwegians.The factory workers received 17t.2t per hour.

In the 189()s.,1bomas FarreU arrived in 51. Lawrence\\ith twobanking schooners: The"Ronald H and the Klon­dike . Each had a crew of 20 with 10 dories.

Cod traps and decked sailing skiffs were introducedin St. Lawrence around 1900and trawl lines soon Iol­lowed; inshore fishermen began fIShing up to 10 milesoff the coast. The trap fishery was operated by threefinns in the early 19005: Thomas Farrell and Sons, A.A.Giovannini, and Pike and Bradley.

In 1915 there was a very poor offshore catch and theba.. fIShery ceased in 51. Lawrence but the inshore fish­ery remained strong until the tidal wave of 1929.111ewave struck on November 18th. 'Thefirst sign was the

6 _ DECKS AWASH

earth shaking from the earthquake on the Grand Banks.Then at 8 p.m. all the water drained from the harbor andthen the first wave, a wall of water 30 feet high struck.As it receded it met a second wave and struck again witheven greater force to be followed by a third. Fishingflakes. stages and stores were washed into the harbor,homes were destroyed and hundreds of quintals of fishwere ruined. 1bomas Farrell and Sons lost a whole ship­ment of fish and A.A. Giovannini had his large storewashed out into the harbor. The marine life and vege­tation which provided food for fish was destroyed andit was many years before fishing returned to normal inS1. Lawrence.

Although the mine opened in 1933, in 1935 there were57 dories. 17 motor dories and 22 motor boats in S1.Lawrence. Gear included 72 nets, 10 cod traps, threesalmon nets, 60 herring nets, 16 caplin seines. Most ofthe fishermen ho.....ever. were miners who fished part­time and there were very few full-time fishermen. 'Therewas one liver factory still in operation. 1bere were threeschools: two Roman Catholic. one Church of England.Each denominatioo had a church although there was justone clergyman.

The house that Gregory Giovannini built.

Mining at St. Lawrence

T he existence of mineral deposits in theSt. Lawrence region was first known during the last

century. but little more than exploratory work was per­formed. Veins of the mineral fluorspar were worked atMine Cove vein and at Chambers Cove prior to 187.Beth­lehem Steel did exploratory work in 1910. Surveying .....orkcontinued during the early part of the century and W.H.Taylor of $1. John's acquired mineral rights to a fluor­spar vein known as Black Duck.

In 1929, Taylor embarked for New York and managedto sell the rights for little more than his expenses to W.E.Seibert. an accountant with the Corporation Trust Co.Ltd. of New York. WhenSeibert arrived in S1.Lawrencein 1932with three partners to view his mineral claims,85 per cent of the population was on relief receiving 6ta day. He said the merchants and the local priest, Father

Fish drying on the Farrell premises during the 3Os. (Photocourtesy f:na Farrell Edwards)

1be mines ensured continued grow..th in S1. Lawrenceover the next three decades. In 1951there were 1451peo­pie. which had jumped to 2095 by 1961. In 1969 the R0­man Catholic and Anglican school systems wereintegrated to improve teacher services and accommo­dations for the students.

By 1971 the population had grown to 2173, but 1976showed the last increase over the previous census peri­od when the population stood at 2258. TIle Alcan mineclosed in 1978and some of the miners returned to fish­ing to earn a living. Today there are approximately 20inshore fishermen operating out of S1.Lawrence. most­ly in medium-sized boats. They sell their catch fresh to'the Fishery Products International plant which was com­pleted in 1979 to help alleviate some of the unemploy­ment created when the mine closed. Some did moveaway after the mine closed and in 1981 S1. Lawrenceregistered its first decrease in population when itdropped to 2012. Residents enjoy the services of a com­munity centre, public library and the U.S. MemorialHospital which was built by the United States govern­ment in thanks to the people of Lawn and St. Lawrencefo their help in rescuing and caring for the men who wereshipwrecked on the USS Truxton at Chamber's Cove andthe USS Pollux at Lawn Point in February 1942. While168 were rescued, 204 men lost their lives. m

Thome, pleaded with him to start an industry. Seiberthired six prospectors and discovered several fluorspar:veins. Seibert then offered to supply mining equipmentIf the men of S1.Lawrence would mine and handpick theore to market specifications without pay until the firstshipment of ore had been sold. The men agreed and thelocal merchants staked the miners until they were paid.Tbe St. Lawrence Corporation of Newfoundland wasformed - known locally as the Co-operation.

Seibert returned to New York and. remortgaged hishouse to raise"...somewhere between five and. ten thou­sand dollars". He then purchased used mining equip­ment from a bankrupt contractor and. shipped it to S1.Lawrence in the spring of 1933. Using sleds. the menmoved the equipment to the Black Duck site, then withno previous mining experience, built an ore mill and set

about mining with drills and picks .It tooka year to mine and handpick the first 2,000tons

and ship it to the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation'splant at Sydney, Nova Scotia. The shipment sold for $12a ton, and the men were paid at the rate of IS( an hourfor their year's work.

The speculative nature of Black Duck, the lack ofmoney aDd equipment, and the need to make a quickreturn was forced by circumstnaces upon the St.Lawrence Corporation. The mine was started using therelatively inexpensive epee-cut method rather than sink­ing shafts. The overburden <top layer) contained largeboulders of loosely packed fluorspar that needed onlyto be filled crushed and hand-picked. But the open cutquickly filled with wa ter. At 50 feet the men dug a six ­foot deep ditch for 1000feet to relieve the pumps of theirburden. At 70 feet the secondhand pumps were quite Wl·equal to the flow d. groundwater entering the mine . Thltidrifting - the forming of lateral tunnels - was start­ed . This brought with it new problems of dust since themine was not ventilated.

Rennie Slaney , mine captain at Black Duck untmsst .described the drilling process as being performed witha dry hammer operated by compressed air that thedriller hung from his shoulder. The hammer tended toskin the shoolder, but worse, it brought the hole in therockface directly opposite the driller's mouth which heprotected with a cheesecloth. The latter clogged in se­conds and the eyes and nostrils had to be cleared. of dustwithin minutes. Often dust and smoke rendered thedriUer entirely invisible to a man a few feet away.

The effect on the mines was catastrophic. Slaney said,"When you came up after eight hours you'd lie on theground and cough until you vomited blood."

Initially the fluorspar was pushed in carts up an in­cline to the surface. When it became toosteep, a hand­powered hoist was used. The men descended into themine by ladder. Until the ' 4(8 they had no protective hatsor safety lamps. Above ground there was no toilet, din-

Tarefare Mine. (Photo courtesy Ena Farrell Edwards)

Men working in Iron Springs Mine. (Photo courtesy Ena Far­rell Edwards)

ing room , nor changing room. At the shift's end the menwalked three miles to their homes, often in wet, or inwinter, frozen clothes. The men continued to work be-­cause they considered it "their" mine. Slaney said, ifthe previous shift produced 50 trucks of ore, you triedto produce 52.

In the early days the mining operation bore all themarks of a co-operative process. The men worked eighthours a day, at IS( an hour, six days a week, and werepaid $7.20receiving a cheque for $5.00, $2.20being heldback by the company. The cheques, to be legal at thattime , should have borne a postage stamp. They didn't,but the local merchants accepted them anyway and ls­sued IQUs on brown paper in lieu of change. In 1936theworkers began to worry about their back-pay amount­ing to several thousand doUars . They hired a lawyer whosuccessfully receovered the money but took a 15% cutfor his efforts .

In 1937the Iron Springs Mine was opened, again us­ing dry hanuners, but the narrowness of this 3O-inch veinmade dust and smoke an even greater problem.

In 1939the men formed the St. Lawrence Miners andLabourers Protective Union, but being unregistered itwas dissolved and replaced the same year by the St.Lawrence Workers Protective Union. A number ofstrikes then occurred, principally for union recognition,higher wages, and improved working conditions.

11le miner's pay of IS( an hour in 1933bad increasedto 23.2(:an hour by 1939.Between August 1939and De­cember 1941,the men won five increases bringing theirwage up to 32.6(:an hour . This latter rate finally gavetbem parity with a second company, the American New­foundland Fluorspar Co. Ltd. that had been establishedin St. Lawrence in 1937.

This new company, the property afan U.S. companyE.J. Lavino & Co., had bought 51% of the shares from

8 _ DECKS AWASH

L. ~I '~ ,

<, • .:-:~ ,

~\ .......

Earty beginnings of Iron Springs Mine, operated by the St.Lawrence Corporation Nfld. Ltd. (Photo courtesy Ena FarrellEdwards)

a group of Newfoundlanders known as the Hookey-Dawegroup. In March 1940Lavine sold out to the AluminumCompany of Canada, and Newfoundland Fluorspar Ltd.,tNewfluorj was formed. This company was equippedwith modern machinery and a supply of spare parts.Above ground a dining room, changingrooms, and show­ers were built. Work had begun on the Tarefare vein butwas abandoned in 1938with the discovery of the Direc­tor vein which was to become a major producer of fluor­spar in future years.

Labor unrest at the mines in 19411ed the Newfound­land Commission of Government toappoint a Trade Dis­pute Board to investigate wages and working conditionsat the mines. The Board thought that although St.Lawrence was better off than most fishing outports, asa mining community the miners had for many yearsbeen underpaid. The basic wage rate of 32.6f: an hour re­mained, but the miners received an additional 13( anhour cost-of-living bonus.

Working conditions did not improve substantiaUy atthe St. Lawrence Corporation mines until 1942 whenmodern equipment including wet drills was introducedbelow ground, and a dining room and sanitary facilitiesabove ground. Rennie Slaney said that this brought dustconditions to nonnal. The St. Lawrence Corporationmines were without mechanical ventilation but the workday was reduced from three shifts to two in late 1942which permitted the mines to be blown out with com­pressed air for four hours between shifts.

The St. Lawrence Corporation mines produced threegrades of ore: acid, ceramic, and metallurgical. Until1939the company produced less than 10,000tons a year,but during the war annual output varied between 13,000

and 24,000tons. Theo Etchegary, a chemist at the Cor­poration, says the great value ofSt. Lawrence fluorsparwas that it was a free ore and almost pure - unlike Mex­ican ore that was often laced with calciwns and silicas.He recalls the Corporation shippedabout 234ore cargoesduring the war in 5000-6000-ton ships.

In July 1952the St. Lawrence Corporation and New­foundiaod Fluorspar negotiated a contract with the U.S.Defense Materials Procurement Agency for 150,000tonsof acid gradeflU<rspar. 11H! U.S. government advancedthe two companies $1.25 million for plant facilities ofwhich almost onehalf million dollars was spent on build­ing a heavymedia separation plant at St. Lawrence. Theentire output of the St. Lawrence Corporation was sentto Wilmington, Delaware, until the tennination of thecontract in 1957.

The Corporation then tried to regain a footing in theCanadian market but found its product over-priced.Cheaper ore was available from Mexico, Spain, Italy,and Germany. The company unsuccessfully applied tothe Tariff Board for protective tariffs. The Boardreviewed the application and refused. In June 1957,theSt. Lawrence Corporation closed its doors.

The CoqxJration had 16veins of fluorspar on its proper­ties, aU located within a few miles of St. Lawrence. IronSprings was !be biggestproduceroperating cootinuouslyfrom 1937to December1957when it was allowed to flood.

'The other mining company at St. Lawrence, New­foundlaod Fluorspar Co. Ud., (Newfloor) evenbJally ac­quired all the Corporation's holdings and employedmany of its miners with most work concentrated on theDirector vein. By the war's end 134,000 tons of ore hadbeenmined, but with the diminished needfOf'aIwninurn,mining was curtailed and the shafts allowed to flood. Inearly 1948operations at Director resumed and an expan­sion program included improvements in undergroundand surface crushing. Newfluor's annual output in the1~ was 60,000 tons a year which peaked in 1965 at112,000tons. Almost all of this was from Director andwas sent to Alcan's smelter at Arvida, Quebec.

St. Lawrence had prospered through employment inthe mines, but the discovery of radiation hazards in themine had an adverse effect. By April 1968Mayor Fabi­an Aylward was declaring that a second industry wasessential for St. Lawrence. "Most of our young peoplehave left or are leaving," said Aylward. A peak wortforce of close to 600 in the 1950shad dwindled to 200.

During1971,300miners at St. Lawrence went on strikefor six months against the company (now referred to asAIcan). The previous three-year cootract had raised wor­kers wages 33«; miners were earning between m and$116a week. They asked for a further $1.25an hour overtwo years saying it would give them parity with theirfellow employees at Arvida, Quebec. Alcan offered theminers $1.01 over 3 years, but after a 100days' strikeincreased the offer one cent to $1.02.

PIoUne manager Matt Gooding said the union's demandfor parity was unreasonable and that smelling was muchmore "sophisticated" than mining. In addition, the costof living was higher in Quebec, as more people lived ina single house in St. Lawrence.

Union president Leo Slaney replied that even if St.Lawrence workers gained parity it would be short-lived,since the Arvida workers were due to renegotiate theircontract in three months. He disagreed that mining wasJess sophisticated than smelting, and added that it wasmore dangerous.Finally, be said that just becauseNew­foundlanders reduced their cost of living by building

their own homes and housed more people per unit, didnol mean they should be paid less. The union believedthat Alean could pay more without rendering the oper­ation uneconomical. At that time the world price of fluor­spar was $30 a ton plus transportation while it wascosting Alcan $29 a ton to produce it.

In February 1975,the union began negotiations withAlean for a new wage agreement. 51. Lawrence wom­en, annoyed at the slow progress of talks, set up a pick­et line effectively curtailing ore shipments. Alean laidoff all hourly workers June 8. The lockout lasted ninemonths.

Part of the issue was wages which varied from $3.47to $4.89 an hour. The union wanted an increase 0($2.50an hour; Alcan offered $1.23. The union would DOtputthe offer to its members saying it was not worth con­sidering. The company would not move until the offerwas put to the men. It was suggested that unions fromoutside lhe province were leading the local union astrayin suggesting that Alean could afford a higher set.tlement.

Other matters at issue were a ccst-ot-Hving allowanceand the rights of miners to refuse to work in parts of themine they considered dangerous. 111 feeJings developedon both sides of the dispute. One reporter doubtedwhether a new contract would settle the real issue whichappeared to be a gulf between management and wor­kers. The wage issue was not settled until after a one­man commission, professor Howard J. Oyer of Memori­al University, had investigated Alcan's offer. He con­cluded that the offer was reasonable, would significantlyimprove workers' wages, and make St. Lawrenceminers lhe best paid on the Island. He pointed out thatin using St. Lawrence nuorspar and converting it at Ar­vida, it was costing the company $110 a ton for a productthey could buy pre-precessed from Mexico at a landedprice of $89 a ton.

On 28 April 1977 the provincial government learnedthat Alcan was considering installing a flotation millat St. Lawrence to upgrade ore. Then, on 10 June 1977,Alcan met with government officials at St. John's andannounced they would be closing the mine. Provincialgovernment officials met with A1can at Montreal on 8July. There followed a joint meeting between federal,provincial, and Akan officials Augmt 30 at Ottawa. 1beycould agree only on a three-month reprieve for the mill.

The provincial government decided to look for a new

Thea EIChega!y

operator and hired two British consultants, Dr. B.L.Hodge and Mr. F. Robinson, to investigate the St.Lawrence fluorspar potential. They examined the minesin late September. Dr, Hodge's draft report stated thatthe mine had the potential to become economic provid­ed the fluorspar was brought up to a true acid gradewhich would require new equipment, but added that be­cause of a soft market for the product it might take twoyears to find a new operator. Alean refused to adopt therecommendations or continue with the mine. ProvincialMines and Energy Minister Brian Peckford made at­tempts to buy or lease the mine for one dollar, but nodeal was concluded.

On 1 July 1978Alcan closed leaving 350 unemployedand a minesite stripped of its equipment. In St. Lawrencetoday only the street signs such as Director Drive giveany indication that the town was once a mining town.

~

Occupational Disease at St. Lawrence

r'I"te first evidence of occupational disease contract• ed from mining at St. Lawrence appeared about

1943. Men began to complain of shortness of breath,vomiting, severe headaches, and loss of appetite.

In 1941, miners had complained to the NewfoundlandTrade Dispute board of foul air in the mines. The Boardhad found. noevidence to substantiate this, principallybecause in the mines Board members visited there hadbeen no blasting for several days. Neither did they seeany evidence of dust from air hammers because IronSprings was not working at that time. The union hadasked for X-ray examinations to determine whether dustwas injurioos.

The Board replied, "We are not competent topronounce as to the necessity for such an examination.

but we desire to place the union's wishes on record asthey had expressed them very strongly."

Twenty-eight years later a Royal Commission notedthis had been the union's most important request.

Progress on detection of the problem was slow. Ini­tially, miners were treated for tuberculosis and silicc­sis. In July 1950. the medical health officer for St.Lawrence attempted to have a survey and dust COWltperformed at the mines by the Federal Department ofNational Health and Welfare, but was told this was amatter for the Newfoundland Department of Health. Hewas unable to cocvinoe the provincia.Idepartment to car­ry out the survey.

1be provincial government finally took notice in June1953and provinciaJ mining inspectors began a dust sur-

10 _ OECKS AWASH

vey of the mine atm~phere at St. Lawrence. They con­centrated on silicosis, but by 1954had determined theamount of free silica in the air was well below that con­sidered hazardous but failed to explain why so manyminers were suffering from a variety of respiratorydiseases.

Dr . Cyril Walsh, resident doctor at St . Lawrence from1954to 1962, was the first to notice the high incidence ofcancer there, a condition quite unheard of in other out­ports he had worked at. He reported it to the provincialDepartment orHealth.

It might be remembered that the "state of the art"of cancer research at that time was not what it is today .The Columbia Encyclopedia , Third Edition ( 19631in itsentry on cancer or carcinoma states: "Its cause is notyet fully understood, but viruses and prolonged mechan­ical or chemical irritation are thought to be factors. "Further, the high incidence of tuberculosis in Nev.rfound­land had led.to a concentration on that disease.

In 1956the provincial Department of Mines asked theFederal Department of Health to conduct its own dustsurvey to validate the provincial fmdings. Again , as in1950,the Federal Government replied that the requestmust come from the provincial Department of Health.The Department of Mines replied that it cared little whoasked for the survey as it was going to be done anyway,if not by the Canadian government, then by the UnitedStates federal authority. The Department of Mines askedthe provincial Health Department to make the formalrequest and the federal dust survey soon was underway.

The f~eral survey continued on into 1957and repeat­ed the Itndings of the provincial survey. Siliceous dustwas not the problem, so the study was expanded into abroad epidemiological survey by the OccupationalHealth Division of the Federal Department of Health.

Meanwhile Alcan, in 1957, had sent in its chief medi­cal officer. Dr . Frank Brent, to investigate. He report­ed.in February 1$8 and suggested taking samplings ofthe mine atmosphere, and mentioned the possibility of

Downin the mines

S1.Lawrence Mirnn. (Photo courtesy Ena Farrell EdwardS)

radioactive contamination of the air. This was discount­ed as the geology oC the area would notsupport the idea,and tests for radioactivity in the early 1950s had beennegative.

In November 1958J.P. Windish of the Federal Depart­ment of Health Occupational Health Division conduct­ed. the first radiation survey and detennined thepresence of airborne radioactivity in NewfoundlandFluorspar's two mines. In some areas, concentrationsof'Zl to 193 times the permissible limit were found. Itwas impossible to test mines of the St. Lawrence Cor­poration. They were closed. and flooded.

In January 1959, Dr. A.J. de Villiers, also of the Oc­cupational Health Division , began in intense clinical in­vestigation of the 387 miners and ex-miners in St.Lawrence. The results of the survey were not publisheduntil 1964as a paper in the British Journal of IndustrialMedicine entitled "Lung Cancer in a Fluorspar MiningCommnity". Even then nobody thought to tell theminers. A copy came into the union's hands quite byac­cident in 1965.Later it led the union to charge that theyhad been used as guinea pigs.

ormore immediate benefit to miners was an amend­ment in the Workmen's Compensation Act dated July5, 1960. Compensation would be paid to victims and de­pendents of miners suffering from lung cancer as wellas the previously recognized silicosis.

Alean immediately rushed in new, more powerful ven­tilating equipment. The miners were told that the highlevels of radiation were not by themselves harmful,rather it was the cumulative length of exposure and thatit was safe to continue working while the newequipmentwas installed. 1be miners were not convinced. Havingseen government at two levels search for almost 10yearsto determine the source of the problem, they were notabout to accept assurances that it would be safe to con­tinue working while the company carried out improve­ments. On March 10, 1960 the men refused to enter themine and they stayed out until AprilS. By then the newequipment had been installed and radiation levelsreduced. 1be radiatioo level from then 00 was monitoredweekly.

while the high incidence of lung cancer in St.Lawrence men was accounted for, little was done forolher.i ill and dying from diseasesnotrecognized by !beWorkmen's Compensatioo Board. Further, thosewidowswho did receive benefits could scarcely live onthe pay­ments. Rennie Slaney, a mining victim incapacitated bybronchitis, emphysema, asthma, and corpulmonale (ahmg coodition that would ultimately lead to a fatal beart

One truck used in mining fluorspar. (Miners' Museum, St.Lawrence)

attack) incessantly badgered the government to take ac­tion. Finally the provincial government took notice andin January 1965 a Committee was drawn up underJustices H.A. Winter and Sir Brian Dunfield to inves­tigate Workmen's Compensation for 51. Lawrenceminers. Slaney was invited to prepare a brief for theCommittee.

'1\110 years later the Winter Report was completed andreleased in February 1967. Slaney's terse, three-pagebrief was referred to as a ..... remarkable docu­menL.The simplicity and objectivity of some of hisstatements is more eloquent and impressive than aU theoratory in the world" . The Committee was, however,staggered by the size of the problem at St. Lawrence." ... In its very dimensions and character it has far ex­ceeded the sphere and scope ... " of the Workmen's Corn­pensation Act. "On the grounds of cost alone it isimpossible to apply it," continued the report, admittingthat many people woold have been better off on weUarethan on the present scale of Workmen's Compensationbenefits. TIle whole accident fund could not bear it andit should be treated as a national responsibility. Thusthe report became labelled.a "National Disaster" . It wassuggestedthat a Royal Commissioo examine the matter.

Premier Smallwood dismissed the matter. He said themines were safe and publicizing the previous tragedywas ..... passed, out of date, out-mooed, and past histo­ry." However, when interviewed on a CBC-TV showSmallwood admitted that he personally would never go~'Il any mine and that he thought the .. ...real problemin St. Lawrence is mainly psychological. " But be agreedthat a Royal Commission should be appointed..

1be Royal Commission Respecting Radiation. Com­pensation, and Safety at the Fluorspar Mines at 51.

Spade used to turn the soil upon the finding of the first flUOf·spar vein at BlackDuck in the mid-1930s. Donated by Mrs.Chariotte Kelly (Miners' Museum, St. Lawrence)

12 - DECKS AWASH

of St. Lawrence. Its aet-page report was presented to U.­Gov. E. John Harnum in July 1969.The Commission es­timated ISOminers had died and as many as 100 werepermanently disabled with respiratory diseases aU con­tracted while mining nuorspar. There were 69 recom­mendations and conclusions. The first was that theprovincial Department of Health had been unduly slowin its acknowledgement of serious occupational healthhazards in the mines at St. Lawrence. It said that ceil­ings in workmen's compensation should be removed. Itfound working conditions within the mines to be safe,but suggested that NoOfull-time technicians be employedto take daily radiation readings instead of the previousweekly readings.

The provincial government fonned a committee ofcabinet ministers 10 examine the report. Two yearspassed before Premier Smallwood acted on one of themajor recommendations, the creation of a special fundin 1971to compensate widows and orphans of miners atSt. Lawrence, II years after the problem had first beenacknowledged.

The fund was administered jointly by the provincialgovernment and A1can. widows received $30.86 a monthwith an additional $7.72 for each child. This was in ad­dition to Workmen's Compensation payments of $150amonth for a widow with $50for each child. In 1975it wasreported that a widow with five children received a to­tal of $469.46 a month, or $2.61 per person each day. Itwas an improvement of sorts. Previously, a 51.Lawrence widow who had lost her husband in 1961hadsupported eight children on $186.SO a month or 6.9t perperson each day.

In July 1972 the Newfoundland Legislature passed aspecial act known as the St. Lawrence legislation. Itrecognized all chronic obstructive pulmonary diseasesand all carcinomas contracted by workers working un·derground between January 1951and December 1960aseligible for compensation by the Workmen's Compen­sation Board. The act did not cover miners employedbefore 1951 because the Board had not existed before thattime. Finally, in 1973 the act was amended to include allfluorspar workers in SI. Lawrence back to the originsof the mines whether they had worked above or belowground.

Lawll

St. Lawrence had already received nations attentionin 1967when writer Ian Adams had published a compel­ling story of life and death in the mines in :\Iaclean'smagazine entitled "The Forgotten Miners". In 1974 an­thropologist Elliott Leyton began three years' investiga­tion into the social conditions at SI. Lawrence leadingto several articles one also published in Maclean's. anda book Dying Hard. Leyton said he chose to write in apopularized manner rather than write a scholarly textfor two reasons. First, to alter public consciousness toindustrial disease; second, to do something to help thepeople of SI. Lawrence. While he succeeded in his firstobjective, he said he failed in his second. Writer HaroldHorwood who had also described the miners' plight in1975, said Leyton was naive for believing that politicianswould react simply because an anthropoloist had point­ed out problems.

In 1m the provmclat government opened its Work­men's Compensation files to Leyton, an unprecedentedstep allowed to a private individual. Le}10n wrote also.-page report including 30 practical recommendations.He suggested the various " ...chaotic and overlappingagencies be merged into one strong centralized agencyresponsible for all occupational health." Also, that 51.Lawrence be designated a disaster area with its own spe­cial set of regulations.

Leyton admits that the intense publicity he createdmay have brought about improvements, particularly forminers and their dependents designated as deservingJess than 100 percent compensation, but the victory mayhave been short-lived. Recently he has heard of one ag­ing victim who has had his benefits cut by 40 per cenl.

Of all the miners who began work underground after1960 when radiation was discovered, only one has con­tracted cancer and that, it is believed, was brought onby cigarette smoking. Among men who worked under­ground prior to 1960, new cases are still emerging. Dr.Brian Hollywood of the St. Lawrence Hospital has hadthe task of treating the men for many years. He summedthem up in an article published in 1967.

"They are a unique and courageous people. I havenever heard a miner complain. I have to ask them,'Where do you feel pain?' and only then will they tell me.To the end they do their best to remain cheerful.""

T ~i~e:rt~~~~~;:::J:~~f~ti~n:~ ~a:~:~e~~majority were Roman Catholic fishermen. The popela­tion climbed steadily for threedecades being 122in 1845,156 in 1857, and 100 in 1869. Five years later in 1874 num­bers jumped to 279and nuctuated around this Iigure until1921when it had increased to 343 people.

Fishing from small boats remained the dominant oc­cupation Early agriculture steadily declined Irom 58acres under cultivation in 1&45to 191,1z acres in 1874.Thefirst church (Roman Catholic) appears in the 1874 cen­sus, the first schoolappears in the 1881census and boast­ed'Sl pupils. In 1911a court houseand a lobster factoryare recorded.

After 1921 the population of Lawn grew to 503 in 1935,then remained almost steady to 1945when it was record- u.s.s. Polluxas she layWJeckedon LawnPoint. Feb. 19142.ed at 508people. 1lIe increase to 1935may have been oc- (Photo courtesy Ena Farrell Edwards)

casioned by the development of mining in the areabetween Lawn and St. Lawrence.

In the early 1950sthe government built a fish plant atLawn for approximately $80,000. It was reported that itwas later turned over to the Lawn Co-operative thatoperated the plant sporadically, mostly as a filletingplant, which sold to other plants in the area. It then layidle for some years.

The Lawn area seemsto have been the sceneof large,inshore cod catches. In 1967a resident of Lawn. RobertLambe, won the Centennial medal for bringing in arecord catch of 1.5 million pounds with a trap crew of 5.

In 1969, Lawn. mayor Fred Cox and deputy mayorHarold Fitzpatrick, travelled to St. John 's to persuadegovernment to turn the town's unused fish plant into anabattoir and mea t processing plant. It was hoped thatthe new operation would employ 25 to 30 people and bean ootlet for cattle from the nearby Flying L Ranch. Theidea was to export both grain-fed and commercial gradebeef in a chilled rather than frozen slate to other partsof the Island

In 1969Lawn was also designated as a Major Collec­tion Centre under the terms of the Household Resettle­ment Program. This resulted from a recently completedtownplan which gave the town "access to unlimited landexpansion and development through the valley". Thiswas after a previous town plan drawn up four years earli­er had indicated there was insufficient land for develop­ment. The significance of the change was that anybodysettling at Lawn was eligible for a resettlement grant,but not eligible for the supplementary allowance paidto people who went to Major Growth Centressuch as For­tune and St. Lawrence.

Mayor Cox commented, "This action is the first realencouragement we have received for the future develop-

Lord's Cove

T he first mention of Lord's Cove is the censusdl881.The population was 83, 21 Church of England mem­

bers and 62 Roman Catholics. None of the 24 childrenattended school. There were 50 Iisbermen with 19 boats,28 nets and one trap, catching 510 quintals of cod and4 barrels of salmon for a total value of 520 pounds ster­ling. The people also kept cattle, milch cows and sheepwith 85 acres of land under cultivation.

East Head, Lawn

ment of the community."In 1980 the Roman Catholic School Board decided to

phase out the school at Lawn. It appears that when St.Lawrence applied for a DREE grant to build its newschool, it had included the student population of Lawnin its plans without consulting parents. With the com­pletion of the newlarger school the Board could nolongerafford the upkeep of the Lawn School and had decidedto amalgamate it with the 51.Lawrence school.

Parents of the 150 Lawn children appealed to thecourts, but Mr. Justice Noel, while being sympatheticto the parents' case, said the court had no right to inter­fere. The editor of the Daily News, having discoveredthat the government had no jurisdiction in the caseeither, thought it incredible that the church was the onlybody to which a schoolboard decision could be appealed.

The dispute was finally settled mid-September 1980when the parents agreed to the busing of grades 9 to 11to St. Lawrence for the remainder of the year until fundscould be obtained to upgrade Lawn High School .

In 1976the population of Lawn stood at 1,025,and mostrecently in 1981 it was recorded as 999. II

By 1891 the population had dropped to 80. There wasone merchant registered along with 42 Itsbermen. Bynow 21 women were listed as curing cod fish. TIle totalvalue of aU fIsh products for the previous year was $t593.including 402quintals of cod and the production from alobster factory. There were 13 students attending school,but no record of a school.

The population continued to grow and had reached 120

Lord's Cove

most were part-time fishermen who worked in the mineat 51. Lawrence. The 1929tidal wave had also ruined thefishery in the area and it was not until the next decadethat the fish returned to their former abundance. Thefishery continued to decline, and by 1945there were only35 boats although the community had grown to 323people.

In 1956the population had reached 361, and in 1961ithad risen to 391. The last year that growth wasregistered, however, was 1966when the population was418. In 1971the populalion showed its first decline to 398and although it rose to 409 in 1976,the 1981populationdropped once again to 384. Today H.B. Dawe operatesa saltfish processing plant in Lord's Cove. The plant wasoriginally a fresh fish operation established by FortuneFisheries in the mid-tsrcs. I!

by 1901.A second merchant had moved into the commu­nity which also had 2 office/shop workers, two farmers,':rl fishermen and 32 women curing fish. There were 25boats, 54 nets, two traps and 1610quintals of cod landedfor a total value of $5960. There was no menlion of thelobster factory of the previous decade. A school,however, now is mentioned with 34 students.

In 1911the population had almost doubled its originalnumber reaching 153. Roman Catholic remained thedominant religion with only 13 members of the Churchof England. There was just one farmer but there were40 fishermen with 35 boats, 1031nets and lines and threetraps. The total catch was 1234quintals of cod.

By 1921the number of members of the Church of En­gland had dropped to two, with 206 Roman Catholics whonow had their own church and school with 33 students.The census makes no mention of merchants or farmersand the number of fishermen had increased to 54 with36women curing fish. The total value of aU fish productswas $23,101.There were 46 boats and 17 fishing rooms.

In 1936the population had reached 'lZl people. F isher­men now also caught herring and caplin in add ilion tocod. But the amount of gear had declined drastically.There were only nine nets and 4 cod traps, along with9 herring nets and two caplin seines. There were a totalof 51 small boats in Lord's Cove but it is possible that

Taylor 's Bay

Taylor 's Bay is first mentioned in the Census of1881.At that lime it had a population of 21, all of

whom were members of the Church of England. Therewere four children under the age of 15 but they had noaccess to formal schooling. The community had 17fishermen who owned six boats and 13nets. They land­ed 212 quintals of cod, one barrel each of salmon andcaplin the previous year which had a total value of 212pounds sterling. 'Thepeople also kept 14cattle, 14milchCO'o'o'S, 17sheepand one horse. 1bere were 2Sacres of landunder cultivation.

By 1891, the population had jumped to 36, and oneMethodist had disturbed the homogeneous nature of thesettlement's religious make-up. Although no school wasreported, seven children were attending school. TIle to­tal value of fish landed was $1176and the number of

Lord's Cove

flshennen had increased to 'Z1.There were also 11womencuring fish.

In 1901there were 10Salvatioo Army members amongthe 59 inhabitants. One farmer was reported that yearbut the number ci fishermen had dropped to 13 includ­ing one bank fisherman but the total value of all fishproducts landed in 1900was $1442. By this time there wasalso a school in the community with 18of the 20children

. under the age of 15in attendance during some period ofthe previous 12 months.

Ten years later the Salvationists had left Taylor's Baywhile one Roman Catholic had moved in with a totalpopulation of 58 - one fewer than 10 years before. TheChurch of England school had one female teacher with22PJpiJs in her charge. Residents occupied10houses andhad built 18 barns and nine fishing rooms. There were

DECKS AWASH - 15

18"s hore" fisherme n who reported owning 12boats , 172nets and lines , a nd two traps, catching 505 quintals ofcod . Agricultural produce was valued at $366.

In 1921the populationwas up to 82, including 75Churchof England members, one Roma n Catholic, four Salva ­tionists and two Methodists . The number of fishermenhad increa sed to 23 and 15 women cured fiSh. 1be totalvalue of fish products landed reached an all -lime highof $6381 .

By 1935motors had been introdu ced with eight of the12dories motorized . In addition , there was also one larg­er motor boat in use . The fishermen, besides cod , nowalso caught salmon, herring and caplin. The populationhad reached 104.

By 1945the population had reached its highest pointat 105residents. Fishing continued to be important tothe community which registered 15dories , six cod nets ,one cod trap, five salmon nets, one caplin seine and ninefishing rooms in use at Taylor's Bay at that time.

Today Taylor 's Bay has lost most of its residents. Thecommunity is not listed separately in the Census . Therenow are fewer than 10housesinhabited and the residentsof today still keep their kitchen gardens as did their fore­fathers . n

Tay\of 's Bay

Point au Gaul

P oint au Gaul appears at various times from 1881asPoint aux Gaul and Point-au-Gaul. The first listing

in 1881shows a total of 104people , 63 members of theChurch of England and 41 Roman Catholics. The com­munity had 55fishermen engaged in the cod and salmonfishery . They landed 970 quintals of cod and nine bar ­rels of salmon. The total value of fish products was 975pounds sterling. None of the 33children under the age of15 attended school. There were 62 acres of improvedland , most of which served as pasture for 'J:1 cattle, 38milch cows, 2 horses and 53 sheep.

Ten years later the population had risen to 120. TheChurch of England still dominated with 91 followers .'Ibere were 70fishermen in thecommunity with 31worn-

en curing fish . A sc hool had been built and boasted 23students. By this time a merchant had also set upbusiness.

The number of fishermen declined over the nextto-year period and in 1901there were only 43fiShermenwith 41women curing fish. In spite of ttle drop in num­bers the men increased both their catch of cod and in­comes; 1292quintals of cod (up from 946) and threebarrels of salmon for a total of $5426 (up from $3822).Point au Gaul now had one Wesleyan and 23Salvationistslnaddition to 35 Roman Catholics and 99 Church of En­gland members.

The lone Wesleyan must have either converted toanother religion or moved for by 1911there was no Wes-

16 - DECKS AWASH

leyan at Point au Gaul. All other denominations estab­Iished in the community had increased their numbers:60 Roman Catholics,:n Salvationists, and 129Church ofEngland members for a total population of 226. TheChurch of England school had a female teacher with 28students in her charge. The place of worship, however,was that of the Salvation Army which had a capacity of60 people . There were 55 fishermen with 52 boats in­volved in the Nev.1oundJand "shore " fishery and gearincluded 508 nets and lines, and nine cod traps. The to­tal codcatch was 2494quintals. The community nov.'alsohad one government employee and one office /shopworker. .

By 1921the local residents had built a Church of En­gland parish haD but the only place of worship listed wasthat of the Salvation Army which was listed in 1911.'There was also a Loyal Orange Association (LOA) Hall.TIle total value of fIShproducts landed was $13.328with

Lamaline

I t has been suggested that the name Lamalinecomes from La Maligne meaning malignant. evil. or

wicked . This might refer to the many treacherous shoalsand smaD islands off the harbor which made navigationdifficult for early sailors.

The 1836census credits LamaJine with 263inhabitantsbut only 36dwelling places which suggests that the com­munity was seasonally inhabited. Unlike nearby Lawn,the majority of inhabitants were Church of Englandrather than Roman Catholic. although the first Churchof England priest did not arrive until 1849.

In 1845,the population had grown to 335people housedin 61 dwellings. One hundred and nineteen fishermenowned 68 boats showing fishing to be the dominant oc­cupation. The flat, grassy lands surrounding Lamalinesupported 210cows and 34horses while 220acres of landwere under cultivation.

By 1857 the population was 524, there were twochurches, two schools, and three merchants operatingin Lamaline. In 1869the population was 680, in 1874itjumped to 913, then declined to 737 in 1881, and 649 in1891-probably reflecting a decline in the fishery at thattime.

On 13September 1878,Anastasia Lundrigan was bornto James and Mary Cousins on Allan's Island. Onehundred years later she was still alive in Lamaline. Sherecalled, "We were very independent people and madeall our own clothes. carded and spun the wool for ourknitting, and reared our ownvegetables as well as made

58 fishermen, and 38women who cured fish. There werenow two teachers with 58students; 11children of schoolage did nol attend school. The population had reached239.

The population showed an increase for the last timein 1935with 243 residents. There were 37dories and onemotor boat used in the shore fishery and the fishermennow had added herring and caplin to their catch of codand salmon.

The population and the fishery both declined over thenext 10years and in 1945there were 221people. none ofwhcm were officially registered as fishennen. There wasalso no gear reported, the value of fishing gear was list­ed as a meagre $20 and only one dory was registered.TIle community of Point au Gaul was incorporated in1966. The population has continued to decline during thesubsequent decades and was 140 in 1981. I!

Walter Foote

our own fish." She added that people seemed closer andseemed to help each other more.

An example of this took place in 1885.Lamaline resi­dents John Walters, 19,and John Hepditch. 18. shippedwith Captain Bonnell in his 6O-tonschooner to FortuneBay to fish for herring . Leaving Harbour Breton forLamaline on Christmas Eve, they ran into a storm andwere wrecked on Little Green Island just east of St.Pierre. Captain Bonnell was drowned but the boys sur­vived and lived for a week beneath an upturned dory onthe beach. They managed to ferry themselves and thebody of the dead captain in the dory back to Lones andthence to Lamaline .

The population, which in 1881had been 7:rl. continuedto drop to 424in 1001. Then by 1911the trend had reversedfor 513 inhabitants were recorded that year increasingto 738in 1921.This was despite the effects of World War 1.

Captain B.C. Hooper , a Lamaline resident born in 1892spent the war years in an unusual way. He had gone in

1916to Halifax and signed on the Pearce. a three-mastedschooner bound with sailfish for Brazil. The Pearce wasapprehended by the German raider Seeadler command­ed by Count von Luckner known as the "Sea Devil " .Hooper 's vessel wass sunk and he was captured .Prisoners were required to work, but they were alsotrained. educated, and paid. Hooper said he learned agreat deal from his captors. Finally repatriated at Riode Janeiro he ultimately joined the Dominion Steel andCoal Corp. alSydney, N.S. and rose to be marinesuperin­tendent before retiring in 1961.

The tidal wave of 18November 1929that swept the Bu­rin Peninsula, inflicted its share of damage upon Lama­line. Fonner mayor and Justice of the Peace WalterFoote was 18at the time, but he remembers the incidentwell. Walter felt an earth tremor while walking home .Two hours later, at 6:45 p.m. , the wave arrived with atremendous roar - Walter's stepmother accused him ofputting something flammable in the stove . But the noisewas outside and Walter ran to a nearby hill to seea whitewall of water 15 to 20 feet high advancing tov..ards theland.

By the time he relurned to his house the wave was inand the entire harbor was "smack smooth and gone" .Stages and boats had all vanished . Mrs. Hepditch andher four children were upstairs in their house floatingin the harbor, spinning in circles with an oil lamp shin­ing from the window. Mr. Cake's 25-by-45foot store hadbeen taken up to the road 100yards away. Mr. R.J. Bon­nell's shop, a two-storey, building loaded with goods, wasswept across the road to stop by the gate to his house.Remarkably the wave only went as far as the gate posttoo. Rocks came ashore, some of them two and threetons.

Walter was staggered by the power in the wave. Ashe walked through the water there was a crackling soundin it, as though a giant can of lye had been thrown in hotwater. Several of the buildings had gaps in the boardsbig enough "too shoot goals through", but the interiorsremained dry. Bonnell's store had six or seven tons ofgoods at one end, the weight should have up-ended it oncewas afloat, but the wave moved it "perfect fair" and itremained upright. AUMr. Cake's winter flour was in hisbuilding, it all remained dry. Mrs. Hepditch's house was

DECKS AWASH - 17

Lone fisherman at Lamaline.

rescued by two fishermen. the lamp in her house neverwent out.

Walter recalls, "It was the beginning of sorrow forLamaline." The Ilshing grounds off Lamaline werestripped of their ranrients for six or seven years. "It wasa famine here, you never could get a fish to eat." Eventhe "goose grass" that grew in the barasway wasstripped out and did not reappear for 25 years.

By 1935 the population of Lamaline had grown to 1031,but it declined in thepost-war years to 826.One man wholeft at this lime was Albert J . Hillier . He served in theRoyal Navy during World War II on everything fromminesweepers to an aircraft carrier. Discharged in 1946,he attended the University of Rhode Island and laterskippered a fishing boat out of New Bedford. He returnedto the University of Rhode Island as an assistant profes­sor teaching net repair, design and construction, andachieved enormous popularity among the students. In1982the 60-year-old teacher was voted teacher of the yearout of 145nominees. One student noted, "This man is antrreplacable master of twine."

The decline in Lamaline's population began in the ear­ly war years as men went overseas or to work onmilitary bases in other parts of Newfoundland. Thetrend gathered momentum in the post-war years, ac-

St. Mary's Anglican Church completed 1907, restored in 1980

18 _ DECKS AWASH

celerated by a failure in the fishery. In 1951the popula ­tion was 500, in 1956it was 548, in 1961it dropped to 530.Since the fishery and agriculture tend to be interdepen­dent in the area , fishermen working at both, agriculturealso declined . TIle trend was not reversed until 1966whenthe population rose10644,possibly from an influx of peo­pie from resettled communities.

In 1971the population had dropped to 553 causing con­cern and even suggestions that Lamaline might have tobe resettled. TIle problem was addressed by a joint con-

Point May

r'J'le community of Point May had very small.I. beginnings in 1874when two residents were report­

ed , one male and one female. Both were over 70 yearsof age and Roman Catholic . There was one house oc­cupied . It is probably safe to assume that the two in­habitants were man and wife. Oneof them was listedas foreign-born , i.e.. a country not of the British Empire.TIle gentleman was reported to have been a fanner andhad six acres of land under cultivation. yielding 15tonsof hay , 12 barrels of potatoes. He also kept six cattle,six milch cows, 12 sheep. one swine and one goat.

By 1881, the population had jumped to 139 residents.There were 88 Church of England members, 50 RomanCatholics and one Wesleyan . There were 149acres ofland under cultivation. The 81 fishermen caught 1222quintals of cod which, together with 95 barrels of caplinamounted to a value of 1222pounds sterling.

In 1891 Point May drops out of the Census and isreplaced by two communities: Lories to the west of PointMay Pond. and High Beach to the east. The combinedpopulation of the communities was 121.Roman Cathol­ics dominated at Lories with 45 to 4 Church of Englandmembers while the reverse was true of High Beach with57 of the Church of England faith and only 15 RomanCatholics. Lones had a school with 11 children attend­ing and one merchant operating out of the community.While there is no school listed at High Beach, there were22 children registered at school. The total value of codlanded was $550at Lorles and $738at High Beach. Thecombined number of fishermen stood.at 58with 33worn­en curing fish .

By 1001 the 94 residents of High Beach also had aschool. Lories, now listed as Lorie's Cove had 84 resi ­dents. A total of 51 fishermen operated out of the twocommunities and 36women helped in the curing of fish.

ference of the Lamaline Area Development Committeeand Memorial University Extension Service. Subse­quently, the population has s ta blized being 543 in 1976and 548 in 1981. In 1978, 5 1. Joseph's School costing $1.25million was built at Lam ali ne to serve the surroundingarea , serving all gr ades with 21 teachers. At the open­ing , T. Alex Hickman rema rked on the progress andprosperity of the region in recent years, especially sincethe road from Lawn to Fort une had been paved. He saidthe area was becoming economica lly more via ble eachyear . I!I

Point May

Lone's Cove also boasts one merchant, one office wor­ker and one farmer. Fish products brought in $4621inLone's Cove and $2137 in High Beach. There was a schoolwith21 students at Lone's Cove but no teacher listed forthe community. High Beach, on the other hand, listedone teacher with 19 students.

By 1911 there were three religious denominationsrepresented in the two communities . There was one Sal­vationist at Lories , 2 Church of England members and161 Roman Catholics. Lories now also had a RomanCatholic church and school with one teacher and 18stu­dents in attendance . High Beach now ceased to rivalLories in population ..... ith only 78 residents , 61of whomwere of the Church of England faith and the remainder,Roman Catholics. Although there .....as no church, therewas a Church of England sc hool w ith 18students. Therewere eight cod traps now in use in the two communitiesand 498 nets and seines with a total of 62 "shore"fishermen.

By 1921people had set tled in the area behind PointMay Pond between Lottes and High Beach . This settle­ment, now called Calmer, had 67 residents while Loneshad dropped to 153and High Beach to 30.The total popu­lation for the area had risen by only 3 so it appears thatCalmer was made up of former residents of the othertwo communities. Lones reports 39 fishermen, Calmer16, and High Beach 10. The total value of fish productsranged from $11.528at Lones, $3568 at Calmer to $3321at High Beach. Most of the improved land in the area

was used as pasture (154acres) with only 16acres devot­ed to cultivation of vegetables.

In 1935Lories was omitted from the Census, Calmerreported a population of 67 and High Beach 43. Therewere six dories and three fishing rooms at Calmer whileHigh Beach had eight dories and eight rooms. Fisher­men caught both cod and salmon.

Lories is again included in the 1945Census ....-itha popu­lation of 222.There were 12dories in use, eight of whichwere motorized as well as one larger motor boat.Although Calmer reported fishing gear va lued at $575

Bibliography

Adami. lan T1If' P.. .." \'lall. TonlIIlo. Mcaen.nd aDd Stewart. 1971Adami, Ian. '11w ForFltnlM~ 01.Newfoundland " \ladulI'~. .ruee

''''Aylward. Fmtan (Cha nn.an Royal ~ """",",tilll .-.&,_~......u-. ..."'Ply.' law n-npu St. La.... eeee. S~""'"...... St. Jotu'l""I.Brown, ea.ie, sea.,. Into D•.,"". S_ Yon., Duubieday,l9'19EdwaniI. EnI Farrell "*'" w.-........ 1I1a&«y" St. La_. St. JIlM's.8reUwllter Boob. I.Edwardil, Marilyn.A~ Drake, Lillian RoIleft Jlis'-Y .... I)py~.....' .. Sl. La...-e-o: ... 1m·Gowmmentol.NN1ourdland.ndLabradlr. c........ft.oolIarB 11DI-1t:l5~

sism, n.eDomiDton Bureau 01.StaUiUCIHlr'W'O(ld.fia.rI:*I "Mmi .. as a ••y of death Human lite and radiationin SI. Lawrence SewtOlllldland." " ... t.. .... 31 ~lay 1975LamahneConf~~ 1lw fulu, .. of 01.. La ••liM' .,.... St, John's. MUNExtemionSO'rviN',1971LO'yton.EllioCt. "n.ebalddeath M.d"...·•• May 1m~too.Elholl.l»lnllbard:tb.. ,.nll"'D'lndusl,lalca,n·Il.. ·Toronto,McCldJ,.,nd .nd SteW.rt, 197~

DECKS AWASH - 19

there are no nets or boats listed. The population haddropped to 56. High Beach continued to lose residentsand had dropped to 37 with only eight small boatsregistered for the shore fishery.

In 1962the community of Point May was incorporat­ed taking in the communities of Lones, Calmer and HighBeach. The population was 4Z7in 1981with approximate­ly 20 fishermen operating out of Pie Duck Cove a Iewmiles to the west of Point May. Others now find workon the trawlers, in fish plants in the area and theMaeystown Shipyard. m

LeytIxI. FJliott. "Dying by inl:'beI WIth duat m your Nap" ...... S.d.....y.voltll.11TlLeytonEUiott Pubtk~ bIk petky.lmNewfoundlandTndO' DBpuk Board, Sf'U'"' "'..... epee.. bHw.....St. La~ C.....,_ a"St. Law~ "i"'O'n Pr.cnth" l' .,..,Proortw.Daniel .., II..," ...... ,.......... Ern and SpoItiswoode. lon­don,IMSJ,.,ney, ReNIie. 'VI... llKrftjw.. 01•• fkt... Monlrftl. 1ll6STurpin. Adrian 'nlf' II.....,. .. Sl. LawnlWe. Studmt piIlper, MUS. 1m

A cknowledgements

For thf'i,heJpwe thlnlt EdM.I~,BobMaldlim, Mike Lahey, BruceReid. FIor'O'~ teete-, CaroI·AM Keough. W.C. Wood1aod, Cum Porter.Sister AquinaI, Paula Giovannini, Gllbert .... ffem. and BobbtO'Robertson.

littlE' St. Lawre~

20 - DeCKS AWASH

the area toda yst. Lawrence

History buff

I f you want to know anythingabout days gone by in St.

Lawrence, people in the commu­nity will tell you to go and see"Mrs. Ena " at the library. In fact ,Mrs . En a has become part of thefolklore of St. Lawrence herself.But when you visit her be pre­pared to compete for her a t­tention.

"Mrs. Ena , did any new bookscome in since last week?" asks ateenag e girl.

"Mrs . Ena , got a ny bookson thehist'ry of St. Lawrence?" I ..14....,"\'\'

The last one strikes gold. The

child is given a copy of the book ,Notes Thward a History of St.Lawrence by Ena Farrell Ed­wards - Mrs. Ena herself.

"WhenI tookover the library in1967it struck me that there wasnothing written on the history ofSt. Lawrence. I thought it was ter­rible and that's what started meoff. I researched everything on 51.Lawrence. I went to the GoslingLibrary and the Archives in 51.John's. But most of the informa­tion I got was in old books belong­ing to my father. Also, mymother-in-law Molly (Gree n) Ed­wards had a collection of books on

Mrs. Ena's museum . Pewter creamer set from the orig inal Giovannil'li home on bot·tomshelf,left .

Newfoundland at her house thatshe had put together teachingschool here for 40 years . 1managed to put all the bits andpieces together, had it typed upand 1would give it out to the chll­dren to use for school. Then it oc­curred to me that 1won't behereforever . So 1sent the manuscriptoff to Breakwater Books and af­ter some additions and changes itwas published."

Mrs. Ena has several copies inthe library and plans to put onein the museum as well. But itcomes as no surprise that Mrs.Ena would have done all thatwork. She confesses to have al­ways been a history buff even tothe point of being a bit of a pestas a young girl.

"I can still remember mymother telling me to stop bother­ing my grandmother with ques ­tions about the old days in St.Lawrence. Everyone was tired ofhearing them , except me, ofcourse. Wehad a very large howeand up on the third floor therewas a room where all the oldbooks, post-card albums, photoalbums and old magazines werekept. And that's where I spent mytime looking at them and askingquestions about them. My grand­mother used to Jove to talk aboutthem with me. Now I wish I hadthought to write it all down whenI was a child because there are

some things I'd forgotten when Igot around to writing the history,"

One of the stories Mrs. Enaheard from her grandmother wasthat of the arrival of her grand­father, Gregory Giovannini inNewfoundland. He and hisbrother Celestine are creditedwith setting up the first businessin 81. Lawrence in 1850.

"Before that the people had torely on traders coming in by boatfor their goods. The Giovanniniswere a merchant family in Luc­ca, Italy, and three young

brothers taken by the spirit of ad­venture set out to make their wayin the NewWorld. They arrived inSt. John's on the day of the GreatFire in 1846.But they wanted togoto a place that was sparsely popu­lated and just beginning, Theydecided to take a boat along thecoast to look at all the communi­ties before deciding where to set­tle. One brother liked RencontreEast which had a thriving her­ring fishery at that time. ButCelestine and Gregory cameback to 81. Lawrence."

Gregory married a local girl,Esther Fitzpatrick, and built alarge it-room house with a ma­hogany staircase and a fireplacein every room.

"He brought in carpenters fromEngland, masons from Germanyand paperhangers from Italy, andall the walls and ceilings wereplaster."

Unfortunately, Gregory passedaway shortly after completing thehouse and Mrs. Ena's grand­mother was left with a family toraise and no business experience.

"Her brother tookit over for herbut he was a drinker and beforelong the business was in badshape. It was put up for sale. Inthe meantime my grandmotherhad opened up a boarding house.One 01the boarders, 'Thomas Far­rell, was a banking captain and

22 - DECKS AWASH

The sound of a sick faucet.

"My brother, Howard, was thesuperintendent of the IronSprings mine for the St. LawrenceCorporation which is where thefirst sailor came after he scaledthe cliffs," she remembers. "Itwas about four o'clock in themorning and Howard suspendedall mining operations and or­dered all his men to assist in therescue. Now,while all this was go-

It's kind of hard on Reddy whenthe water he's heating is wastedthrough faulty outlets, He'dmuch rather~. not an emptysink. were getting the fullbenefits of his heating service.Help him out; turn off faucetsfirmly and check your water

. facilities periodically so Reddycan do the best job for you -­heat-wise and money-wise,

ing on I was down in the towngathering food and clothing forthe survivors. It was somethingelse because we'dhear aUthe warnews on the radio and then forthis to happen right on your shore... all those sailors being drownedand then the survivors beingtaken into our homes like that. Ican still remember my brothertrying to get the crude oil andgrease off them. We had four inour house and they were in suchweakened condition. They weretransferred to Argentia a coupleof days later. But one lady refusedto let the navy take one man shewas caring for because he was toosick to travel.

"In any event while all this wasgoing on I had this one big desireto get down to Chamber Coveandtake pictures of them hauling themen up over the cliffs. But younggirls didn't have much freedomback then and my brother wasvery staid. I figured he'd kill me,so I stayed away. But when he gothome I couldn't hold it in and Itold him I should have been downthere taking pictures because thiswas history in the making. Hesaid, 'Why weren't you?' Well,that was all I needed. Bright andearly the next morning I wasdown there with my camera. Itwas lucky too because the 'lTux­ton sank the very next day."

Her pictures were bought bythe Associated Press and ap­peared in the Montreal Standard,the New York Times, and the NewYork Herald Tribune. Shereceived $100 in payment whichshe used to buy a folding Kodakcamera.

"But a few years later thecamera was stolen while I was onthe subway in New York City,"says Mrs. Ena with a laugh. "Soit went just as easily and unex­pectedly as it arrived. I still dowish I had recovered the filmthough because I had been toWashington, D.C.,and taken pic­tures of the gravesite where themen of the PolJox and 'lTuxtonwere to be buried."

••

eN£w{oundfa.nd

LIGHT &POWERCO. .£imltul

Remember I Reddy supplies the electricity - only you can use it wisely

drip.

he became interested in the bust- 11 Truxton and Pollox disasters inness - and as it turned out, in my February 1942.She took the onlygrandmother as wen. They were pictures of the wrecks and rescuemarried and he bought Giovanni- operations with her $5 boxni's which is how it then became camera which she had receivedFarrell's. So Farrell's business in the Christmas before.St. Lawrence is actually the origi­nal Giovanninibusiness which be­gan in 1850."

The couple had no children oftheir own, but Thomas Farrell'sson and Esther Giovannini'sdaughter met and married. Theywere Mrs. Ena's parents.

Her interest in things historicalcaused her to play an importantrole in the documenting of the

DECKS AWASH _ 23

Making a comeback

A feeling of hope and expec­tancy fills the air at St.

Lawrence, the town that lost itsmajor industry, the mining offluorspar, six years ago. Whenthe previous operator, Alean,pulled out in 1978 it erased everysign of its presence. Buildingsand plant were removed and themineentrances concreted over sothat today there is nothing toshow that mining was the main­stay of the economy for 30 years.But if you drive out on DirectorDrive today, less than a mile fromtown, you may see a small drillrig drilling at an angle into theboggy ground among the spruceand firs. A new company, St.Lawrence Fluorspar Limited, asubsidiary of Minworlh Ltd., alarge Ij.K. mining company, isperforming exploratory drillingin the hopethat 51.Lawrence willbeproducing for the internation­al market by 1986.

"We are not reactivating themine that Alean left," says Bar­ry Walters, an engineer with thecompany. "This area has beenmined by a number of companies.Wewill be setting up a new mine,probably in the Blue Beach area."

We bumped into Barry and ge­ologist Sel Collins of Lawn, atbreakfast in the K-Karen motel.Clayton Parsons of Newtown nearWesleyviUe, and Earle Freemanof St. Lawrence who work forPetro Drilling of Springdale, areout at the drill rig which operates24 hours a day.

"I suppose some of the peoplearound here wonder what we aredoing," reflects Barry. "Some ofthese miners have been here 30years and have crawled over ev­ery inch of the ground above andbelow the surface. They probablyknow exactly where the fluorsparis and wonder why we bother todrill. Part of it's financial plan­ning, you have to take core sam­ples, you can't really take a manwith you to your banker. Youalsohave to verify the quality of thedeposits and today we have bet­ter methods of doing that than

ever before."Sel ColJins, who wrote his

honors thesis on the St. Lawrencedeposits and is currently workingon a master's degreedissertationadds, "There is a lot of existingdata but much of it was for eithershallow or deep levels. Weare ex­ploring the middle region. Also,for engineering purposes, overhalf our holes will be drilled ingranite so that we will be able todecide where to locate the entryramp to the mine."

But what is fluorspar, where isit found. and what is it used for?

"Fluorspar or, calcium fluo­ride, comes in cubic shaped crys­tals of many colors," saysgeologist Sel. "Nonnally they areabout a centimetre across,although some are so fine youneed a microscope to measurethem while others have beenfound as big as 30 inches across."

Time warp~tors' from Little St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence reenact the land­ing of Richard Clarke and hismen from the Delight after the shipwas wrecked off Sable Island. The Delight was one of the ships inSir Hwnphrey Gilbert's convoy of 1583.The reenactment was partof the 400thAnniversary Celebrations in the two communities. Lo­cal legend has it that there has been a Richard Clarke living inLittle St. Lawrence ever since the first one landed here in 1583.Infact the present-day Richard Clarke was one of the crew membersin this scene.

24 - DECKS AWASH

deposits millions of years ago. Asthey cooled they cracked and thefluorspar; in liquid form, filled thecracks and shot towards the sur­(ace at great speed. cooling toConncrystals or varying qualitiesand sizes. It's used, among otherthings. (or smelting aluminumand making hydrofluoric acid.

"It's not difficult to distinguishthe veins of fluorspar aroundhere," says Sel. They vary inwidth (rom 3 to 65 feet and runinto the ground at about 60degrees.

"We are designing the mineright now,"says Barry. "The sur­VO)S will tell us what 10 expect he­(ore we go underground. Wealsohave to build a plant to processthe ore and at least have it half­way finished before we start min­ing or we shall end up stockpilingore all over the place. Wehope tostart building the plant early in1985, as soon as the winterweather is over and we can pourconcrete for the buildings. Weshould employ somewhere be­tween 35 and 50 people for that."

Barry says the company plansto have the mine producing (orthe North American market witha high-grade, finished product by Clayton Parsons and Earle Freeman drilling at St. Lawrence.the first half of 1986. It should pro-vide jobs for 100-120 people. He is pany, Minworth U.K. has put in Ithe ir first Canadian venture.optimistic about the town's eco- Newfoundlanders to start I,Ip the Barr y concludes, "I think itnomic outlook and as a New- operation. They are a large, ex- should produce a future for min­foundlander pleased at the perienced fluors par com pany ing in St. Lawrence (or a very,amount of trust the parent com- mining in the U.K. and this is very long time." ~

Under one roof

I t's a Wednesday morning andthe phone in principal Bob

Cove's office rings incessantlywhile a string of people walk inand out. Everybody asks thesame question. "Will there byany school this afternoon?"

"The plumber left Marystownat 9: 10 this morning," explainsBobglancing at his watch whichn(MI reads 11:00. "I( he doesn'tarrive soon I'll have to call 0((

this afternoon's school."St. Lawrence has tremendous

water pressure as we discoveredin our motel room when we

received a virtual shower (romthe washbasin taps. The pressurealso bursts pipes. This time it'sthe local high school's turn to beput out of action, but it gives ustime to talk to Bob.

"I came here in 1966,"says Bobwhogrew up in Petty Harbour. '"was in the Christian Brothers 13years before that, taught io 51.Jdm's at St. Pat's and then at St.Bon's. When 1 came to St.Lawrence we had two highschools: one (or boys, the other(or girls, but we couldn't getteachers. By 1968the boys' school •Principal Bob Cove

was down to three teachers fromsix. Nobody would come here.Now there's plenty of teachersbut we can't hire them."

The school is a large, hand­some building erected in 1976 un­der a DREE grant. Itaccommodates 300students fromgrades 7 to 12, boys and girls, ofwhich about three-quarters areRoman Catholic. The rest aremostly Anglicans and althoughthe school has a Roman Catholicboard, clergy of other denomina­tions visit freely.

"It's much better havingeverybody under one roof," saysBob. "And of course we can offermore courses this way. We have17teachers including myself andthe vice-principal.

"The students enjoy the newgrade 12. Of course, last yearsome of them were a bit brownedoff, they said they would havefinished school but for grade 12coming in. But this year they allenjoy it and they oniy have tohave 36 out of 42 credits so theycan afford to fail a few coursesand still graduate. Before, theyhad to repeat the year. Now ifthey fail an essential core creditthey can repeat it and fit it in withtheir other subjects. The pro­gram is terrific - if you have thespace, materials, and teachers tooffer the courses."

U's a big "if". The school lost Ia teacher last year, but the staffis managing to spread the work

around. Bob himself teaches 18periods out of 42in addition to hisduties as principal. In 1986 theyare scheduJed to lose anotherteacher and this worries Bob.

"I'm half afraid we may goback to the older system - onetype of education for the largeschools in places like 81. John'sand another, inferior type (or thesmaller schools like ours.

"We now offer basic and aca­demic math and the three majorsciences: physics, biology, andchemistry. I figure with thatbackground a student should beable to go to any of the post­secondary institutions. Universi­ty is the most popular, but wedon't have anybody going fromhere to the Fisheries College andI think that's crazy. We had twomen come down from the Collegesome years ago to talk to the stu­dents, but they can't come downjust once and get the kids' atten­tion in one hour. to

For many years Bob taught in­dustrial arts - a subject he en­joys. "You can see the studentsimprove year by year. When westarted only boys took it, but tbattradition is breaking down. Girlstake woodworking now and theyare good, very meticulous. Someof the boys ...well, we were mak­ing bird-houses from half-inchplywood and one-inch finishingnails, then selling them for aboutfive dollars. Some beys would putthe nail right through the otherside and their joints would be off.

DeCKS AWASH - 25

You'd point it out and they'd say,'Ah sir, that's good enough sir.'It's frustrating at times."

Today Bob teaches 12 periodsof religious instruction.

"Some of the students are skep­tical, but some surprise you. Iwas talking to a class about peo­ple who go to Mass but hangaround outside the church smok­ing and yarning outside instead ofsitting through the service. Ayoung Anglican girl spoke up."

"Yes sir, that really burns meup, too."

"Why. do you have that in yourchurch, too?" asked Bob.

"I'm not talking about mychurch sir, I'm talking aboutwhen I go to Mass."

"You go to Mass?""Sure I go to Mass every now

and then with my friends," shereplied.

"That really surprised me,"commented Bob. "That's reallygreat. When I first came here youwouldn't catch an Anglican goingnear a Roman Catholic church."

Bob's other great love isfishing.

"1 would have gone fishing if Ihad not gone teaching. Being outthere on an August morning be­fore dawn, on a calm sea waitingfor the cod, you are in a world ofyour own. Of course you can't geta licence to go fishing anymore.You'd get a licence to go to themoon quicker than you'd get oneto go fishing," concludes Bobwith a laugh. .,

St. Lawrence Central High School

26 _ DECKS AWASH

I'd do it again

S t. Lawrence has three hard­ware stores. One, a Handy

Andy store, is owned by brothersGary and Harry Edwards andtheir father Harry Edwards.

It 's a franchise operation fromMootreal that celebrated its 50thamiversary last year," says Garywho started the store in April1982. Why anybody should start astore in St. Lawrence at that timeis a little puzzling .

"Well. I worked in a HomeHardware store for ten years andthen I left and went selling carsfor a year. But at that time in­terest rates hit 24 per cent andpeople stopped buying cars. I hadit in my mind for awhile to starta hardware store, so when thenews came that we were gettinga newfish plant, I figured it wasas well to go now."

The Edwards put together aline of credit and built a storewith 2500 square feet of retailspace. Then with over $50,000worth of inventory they openedtheir doors and kept them open 12hours a day six days a week. Thefish plant turned out not to be thecommunity's salvation, but Garyhas no regrets.

Gary Edwards

"Well hoy, I'll tell you. If I hadto start again next week I think I'ddo it again. Considering the eco­nomic situation in the communi­ty we've done quite well. Oh, it'sbeen rough at times, but overallwe've maintained th e salesprojections we set for ourselves."

Part of the store's success isdue to the franchising operation.

Gary requires only one supplierinstead of many. He knows exact ­ly when the delivery truck is leav­ing Montreal and when it willarrive. He sends his orders via anelectronic device that couples tohis phone and communicatesdirectly with the computer at theMontreal warehouse. And hisprices are in line with thoseacross Canada so he is able tocompete with the big chains.

"If a salesman were to comefrom 51. John's I'd have to goaround the store with him andwait on customers, and it wouldstill take me twoweeks to get ord­ers from St. John's. This way Icome in for two hours a couple ofnights a week and do my order­ing and bookwork."

Gary, who does aU his awnbookkeeping, gained his account­ing knowledge when he went tothe College of Trades and Tech­nology at St. John's in 1970.

"It was a two-year course, butI left in April the first year whenI got a job with Alcan. I thoughtit would be permanent employ­ment but in OCtober I was laid off- which also fixed me for goingback to the Trades College," saysGary ruefully. "But the account­ing I got has been hasically help­ful. We look at our figures eachmonth and compare them to thesame month last year to seewhether we're up or down. Wetryto keep the cash Ilowing."

The store carries a variety ofhardw are items, their specialtybeing the number of automotiveparts it has .

"There's also the seasonalitems like chain saws . snowmo­bile parts, and sporting goods. Wechange with the season, some­thing like automotive parts alonewouldn 't be enough to operate.And yoo can send the unsold slllffhack to the warehouse. You're notstuck with it, which is anothergood thing about a franchise.

"Right now the fastest movingitems are body filler and pop­rivets. A fellowhas got to keep hiscar going. But in winter people do

DECKS AWASH - 27

a fair amount of interior painting,too.There's also the video movies.It costs $10to rent out three (orthe weekend. Then while they 'vegot those they can trad e themwith their neighbor. By Mondaymorning some o( those peoplehave seen 12or 15movies."

Gary has twice been presidentof the local Lions Club which in

its heyday with the mine operat ­ing had 49 members but is nowdown to 20.

''Westill try tocarry out our ac­tivities , a santa Claus parade.goodies (or the children , publicspeaking contests, educationweek activities, but it's rough go­ing. Youcan only knock on doors(or donations or sell Lions Clubcandy every so often. Our mem o

hers have really hung in wellcon­sidering the number or peoplethat did move away.

"I'd say that right now the townis at the lowest it's been in aboutten years, economically andspiritually. At least with this newmine there's a glimmer oC hopeatthe end cr the tunnel," concludesGary . l1

Making it work

Sf. Lawrence fish plant

Murray Dicks

closed. The Department ofRegional Economic Expansion<DREE) put up $1.6 milliontoward the total cost or $2.6 mil­lion. The remaining $1 millionprice tag was cost-shared by theGovernment o( Newfoundlandand Labrador, Fishery Productsand the Town o( St. Lawrence. Itbegan processing inshore fishand overflow (rom the trawlerplants in the area in 1980. In ad­dition, there were two Por­tuguese boatsselling offshore fishto the plant. In 1982, the plantclosed and did not reopen untillast year when the RestructuringAgreement was put in place .

"The Agreement calls (or thisplant to operate as an inshorefeeder plant, buying from fisher­men in the area, supplementedwith overflow from trawler

come in that year to help us im­prove productivity, " Murray ex­plains . "They established levelsof productivity that could be ex­pected under normal conditions,and explained to the employeeswhat these levels were and howthey could be achieved . As aschedule co-ordinator my job is toensure those standards are met ,and enhanced where possible . Istudy production in small sec­tions on the plant floor ratherthan the wholeproduction area atone time . That way we can seewhere productivity is slowingdown, isolate the problem andcorrect it."

In the spring of this year Mur~

ray was asked i( he would con- ' ...11~.""sider coming to the St. Lawrenceplant as manager (or the season.He decided he would enjoy thechallenge.

The St. Lawrence plant .ascompleted in 1979to help replacejobs lost when the fluorspar mine

"T here is a challenge inthis industry right now

and that challenge is to survive ,"says Murray Dicks, manager ofthe Fishery Products Interna­tional plant at St. Lawrence." And, personally, I believe wecan do it. The way to do it (rommy point or view, as a part o( themanagement team is to ensurethat our plants maintain and en­bance eCCiciency, productivityand quality ."

While in high school Murraystarted working summers in theplant at his home town oC Burinon the production floor. In 1967,when he finished school Murraywent to work in the oCCice of theBurin plant and then, in 1969,transferred to Marystown asoffice clerk. He later served asoffice manager and then becamepart of a team that monitorsproductivity at the Marystownplant , In 1969.

"We had a group of consultants

28 - DECKS AWASH

plants," says Murray. "We em­ploy approximately 120 peoplewith about 100of those workingon the production floor . There isone shift per day . This year weprocessed fish from May 16th toAugust 25th. Since then we havebeen buying from the fishermenand trucking it to other plants forprocessing . Right now, becauseof the trawlermen's strike, theclosest plant in operation is theone at Bonavista and that iswhere our fish is going . This isfea sible as long as we can get atruckload every second day ."

The plant is supplied by ap­proximately 40 inshore fisher­men , 20each from Burin and St.Lawrence. With one shift in oper­ation, as was the case this season ,Murray estimates the dailyproduction capacity of the plantto be between 60 - 70,000 Ills .

" The fish arrives at the dockiced and gutted, II he says. "Weweigh it to determine how muchwe owe the fisherman and thenimmediately ice it again. It isthen stored overnight. The next

Fighting to win

"Y ou see that fish plant?"asks Mayor George

Doyle of St. Lawrence, pointingemphatically at the closed Fish­ery Products International planton the next pier. "That's what Iwant you to emphasize in yourstory . The mine is going to reopensome time next year but I don'tthink it's going to be the answerto all our problems. We havenearly 500 people available forwork in this community and themine will only take about 100orso. That's not enough!"

If it sounds lil<e George is readyfor a fight , he is. But gearing upfor battle with the powers that be- big business, federal andprovincial governments - isnothing new to George, or thecommunity he lives in.

''We had quite a fight to keepthe plant at all," he explains . ''Butwe are guaranteed an inshoreplant under the Restructuring

morning we fillet , trim and sortthe fish and ship it to Fortune orMarystown for packaging andfreezing . We don't have freezingcapacity here so we have to shipthe fish out to other plants."

Murray also points out that theinshore fishery changes as themmths progress.

"It goes through stages," heexplains. " In the spring and ear­Iy summer it's a gillnet fisheryand a trap fishery for those whotrap. The trap fish comes veryclose to shore chasing caplin , andis bloated with it. It tends to besmaller and of lower qualit y. Thistime of year it's a hook-and -linefishery. [ can buy fish now andhold it for several days on ice ifI need to, and it will be betterquality than trap fish that is icedonly overnight.

"This time of year hook-and ­line fish tend to average about a30-c0Unt, which means that thereare 30 fish to 100 pounds , whereastrap fish is about a 5O-count. Asa result we pay what's known asa fall premium of one cent per

Geo<ge Doyle

Agreement. But I'm going tocome out fighting again soon be­cause aU we have is 115peopleemployed for 12-15 weeks a yearand that's nothing more than aglorified make-work project.There were 230people employedat that plant when it first openeda few years ago and [ won't behappy until we get that hack ­and 111prohably be looking formore besides."

pound for fish over 24 inches fromAugust 27th to May 31st. Sofishermen now are receiving a to­tal of 25(: per pound for fish over24 inches."

The St. Lawrence plant stoppedbuying fish from local fishermenon October 25th and Murrayreturned to his former position atthe Maeystown plant at the end ofthe month . He now lives therewith his wife, Edith and theirchildren Jeffrey , 5, and Janice, 3.

What of next season for the St.Lawrence plant ? Murray doesn'tknow if he 'll be back next yearbut he has prepared a prcspec­tive budget for whoever is. Andwhat of his own future?

"I'm staying with the fishery, "he confirms. "It's a fascinatingindustry with a new challenge ev­ery day and I like challenges. Wehave to make this province 's Iish­ery work . I believe that can bedooe if we operate our plants ef·ficiently to keep productivity andquality up and that 's where I fitin - ensuring efficiency." II

George points out that the plantwas originally designed as an off­shore processing plant. At onetime it was supplied by two Por­tuguese trawlers.

"They were supposed to buythose two boats and two more be­sides," he says . "But then the bot­tom fell out of the fishery and theplant closed down. But I still thinkthe plant should be operating asan offshore plant. The quotas forthe fish keep going up so I can'tsee hc::M there is a shortage of rawmaterial to supply the plant. Andthey spent millions on that build­ing and equipment which is beingunder-used right now, in my 0pin­ion. And that 's a waste . We havea promise from our new MP, JoePrice, that he will fight for trawl­ers for this plant. I'm hoping thatfriendlier relations between thefederal and provincial govern­ments will cut through a litUe ofthe buck-passing we 've ex -

perienced in the past and work inour favor .

"You see, what bothers me isthat there won't be many jobs forthe women and young people in'the mine, so we have to get morejobs in that lish plant, and getthem on a year-round basis. It'sthe only way we're going to solvethe unemployment problem forthose two groups in St.Lawrence."

St. Lawrence is also facing thepossi ble closure of its hospital inthe near future. That step wasrecommendedby the Royal Com­mission on Hospital and NursingHome Costs recently andalthough the provincial govern­ment has made no announce­ments as yet , the people of St.Lawrence have already formed acommittee to fight the closure.George is on that committee alsoand.will be attending meetings toplot a course of action. In the

meantime, he has just startedwork for the new miningcompany.

"I've been hired toidentif y sup­pliers of equipment they are go­ing to need to get set up in St.Lawrence again," George ex­plains. "111be trying to lind sup­pliers of pumps, drills andmachinery like that. I did a sur ­vey of that sort a few years agoand I'll basically be beefing thatup lor them . I'm guaranteed a jobover the winter and ] think ] standa very gOCKi chance of som eth ingpermanent when the minereopens."

The closure of the Alcan Minein 1978is, in fact , hOY<' George be­came involved in public life in thefirst place.

"I had worked as a millwrightand diesel mechanic for Alcan for11years," he says "but left to lakea job as town manager. When AI­can closed down they were or-

DECKS AWASH - 29

dered to remove a ll theirequipment. There was a disputebetween Alcan and the Council. Idecided then that I would run forCouncil so that I could do some­thing about the way the townwasnm . I wanted to do my part tomake sure the community waswell served by its Council. Andthe only way to do that is from theinside."

But what is in store for the fu­ture? George has served one tennas mayor and also is President ofthe Burin Peninsula Joint TIP.vnand Community Council. Is pub­lic life in his blood?

" I like to help people," he an­swers. "You can bet you'll see meinvolved in my community oneway or another. Besides there'squite a lew hattles ahead. and likeany good Newfoundlander, I lovea good light! " rJJ

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30 - DECKS AWASH

The big one didn't get away

G eorge Powerand BillMoUoyhave been fishing together

in George 's boat for to years . OC­casionally Edgar Beck joinsthem when he's not workin g inthe local fish plant.

" I have to show those twowhere toget the fish," jokes Edg ­ar as they pull up to the commu­nity wharf in 81. Lawrence . Thethree men have been out trawlingsince early morning. They fishabout nine miles from shore atthis time of year .

"We spent two months thissummer in Trepassey fishingover there ," says George . "Therearen 't enough fish in this area sowe stay down there and sell to theplant in Trepassey. We had avery good summer."

" The fall fishery is a bit bett eraround here than in summer,"adds Bill . "So we come back andfish out of St. Lawrence and sellto the local plant until they stopbuying ."

Today has been a good day forthe men . Their catch weighs in atthe plant at 1300Ibs. One cod isapproximately 70 Ibs.

"It took all three of us to getthat one aboard the boat, " saysBill. "And there's a few morealmost as big in this catch. Theonly thing is that yoo can 't get out

George Power behind 1m. whee601 his boat, Bill Molloy with bucket .

look like we'll get out tomorrowif the weather gets much worse."

This is the last week Georgeand Bill will fish this season .Each year George goes to themainJand to work as a miner .This year he will spend the winterworking in the gold mines atKirkland Lake, Ontario . Thennext spring it's back to sea totake up the fishery again. I!

DECKS AWASH - 31

Building a better boat

T here is the noise of a chainsaw, and as we round the

bend George and Norma nReeves, father and son, can beseen molding pieces of lumberout of the timber the y have cut tobuild their new longliner .

"We've been a t it since June,"explains George . taking a breakfn::mhis work . "That's almost sixmooths of slow going but we onlyget to it on days when we aren'tfishing."

The boat is mostly sprucewhich Geor ge and Norman cutthemselves along with anotherson, Robert. Init ially, they hadthe timber milled professionallyfor the shell of the boat. They noware doing all the work themselveswith hand tools .

"This is the first boat I everbuilt ," says George . " We got theblueprint from the Fisheries

The frame of the Reeves' new boat.

Loan Board. We 'lofted' it out on that's where you draw out theplywood on the basement floor - plans full scale.

"She's 35feet long and 121,lz feetto 14 feet wide. We've got a 130h.p. diesel engine which cost$11,000. And don't ask me whenwe expect to finish it because Icouldn't even guess ."

George has been fishing for aliving since the late 19508.He alsospent four years working as amucker for the St. Lawrence Cor­poration Newfoundland Limitedat the Iron Springs fluorsparmine . Prior to that he was em­ployed as the Iightkeeper at Mid­dle Head at the entrance to St.Lawrence Harbour.

" My father went out there aslightkeeper when I was aboutseven years old," he recaUs ."There was no road then ; justbog in front of you as far as youcould see . I used to walk in to St.Lawrence for school each weekand stay at my aunt's until Fri­day. Then I'd walk hack out to thelighthouse for the weekend. Oncein a while I'd come in by boat butnot very often .

"I took over as lightkeepershortly after the wreck in Cham ­ber Cove in 1942when the Trux­tonsank . My father was involvedin the rescue operations . I

32 - DECKS AWASH

worked out there until the 19505.There was still no road and mywile had taken ill out there, theyoungsters had to go to school. SoI quit and moved to St. Lawrence .That's when I went to work in themines."

But the Iron Springs mineclosed in 1957 when the St.Lawrence Corporation lost itsmarket in the United States. Af­ter a short stint as a janitor forAlcan, George had no choice butto turn to the sea to earn a living.

George and his two sons fishfrom late April until October .Their days are long, sometimesbeginning as early as 2 a.m . andending at 8 p.m. after they havebaited the next day's trawl. Thiswas the last week the Reeves willgo out fishing this year becausethe plant in St. Lawrence stoppedbuying from them on October 25.

"You can't fish this time ofyear on this coast anyway," saysNorman. "You can't get out ofthe harbor for the wind. We'relucky to get a couple of days a

week in OCtober. Most days insummer though we manage toget out four days a week at least.Then towards the last part of Au­gust and September months youstart losing days more often ."

"This year was unusualthough," adds George. " Wenever lost a single day in Septem­ber. But even so, it 's a bad yearbecause there's no fish on the goand what there is is small . We'remanaging to make a living butit 'sa damn poor-one. Restructur­ing of the fishery was supposed tohelp us but I can't see where it 'sdone us much good at all . The lishplant was only open 18weeks lastyear and this year it was down to15 weeks . That doesn 't do theplant workers or fishermen muchgood at all."

" Another problem is the drag­gers," adds Norman. "There 'sdraggers from all over the worldout there orr our coast taking fishin large quantities. Wecan 't havefish there for them and for the in-

shore , too."There is also a problem with

bait in the ar ea . There hasn'tbeen any squid now for threeyea rs and the Reeves are forcedto buy mackerel to bait theirtrawls .

" I' ve only been fishing for 10years," says Norman, " but I canremember a time when we'd setout nets for a week and haveenough mackerel to last a year.Now we buy 600 pounds a weekand are lucky to catch another100pounds ourselves. And we'repaying 17(a pound for it so it isn'tcheap ."

But both men say they have tostay with fishing as there is noth­ing else for them to do in St.Lawrence right now. Althoughthe mine will reopen in the nearfuture , George believes the youn­ger men will get the jobs and Nor­man has no experience. But theyexpect the fishing will be betterwith their new, more efficientlongliner. n!

A part of the community

S ister Betty Morr issey is noth­ing if not straight forward

a nd direct."And tha t's what I don' t," she

replies , looking our reporterstraight in the eye when asked ifshe minded being asked her age."I'm 42 years old a nd I've beena Sister of Mercy for 25 years."

So much for the image of theunapproachable nun . Sister Bet­ty is principal of Marian Elemen­tary School, SI. Lawrence, buther involvement in the communi­ty goes far beyond that role.

"I became a sister to bringChrist to others," she explains."As a member of a religious com­munity I cannot be totally part 01this world, but I cannot be shutoff from it either."

That philosophy helps to ex­plain the variety of the involve­ment the Sisters of Mercystatio ned at S1.Lawrence have inthe lives of the people in the com­munity. Sister Betty explains thata ll four sisters are involved as

Caught in the wind . Sister Betty is alwayson the run.

teachers, ExtraordinaryMinisters of the Eucharist, withthe youth , the mentally han-

dicapped and in community ac­tivities.

"I say all of us because eac h ofus takes part in the projects theothers are involved in," continuesSister Betty . "When I first camehere four years ago , we visitedthe needy in the parish to seewhat we could do to help. And Ithink you have to take that firststep - you can't sit and wait forpeople to come to you. They 'llnever do it. Now they know theycan call us for help if they needit. "

Sister Betty also managesvolleyball and basketball teamsand sees this relationship withyouth as very important to hervocation.

" I don't segregate myself fromthem when we go away togames,to she explains. " I put onmy slacks, get on the bus and I'mone of the crowd . And they don'tsee me as something separateeither. I have yet to have to sitaJooe in a roadside restaurant. '

And the young people don 't feelit 's necessary to hide the fact thatI'm a sister from others. They 'llsing out across a crowdedrestaurant, 'Sister, did you getyour coffee? ' I think it's very im­portant to be part of the lives ofthe people you serve as a re­ligious.

"I'm also a great supporter ofour St. Lawrence Laurentianssoccer team. When I first went toa game I asked them where Ishould stand and they told meright behind the goalie was agood spot. Now it' s my spot andif I'm late nobody takes it. Andthey know when I'm there, too.They 'll sa y to one another,'Wa tch yourself now, look who'sbehind you.' And they know I'mnot shy about telling them towatch themselves either."

There are three other sisters atthe convent at St. Lawrence: Sis­ter Mary Consilio Power, EllenMarie Sullivan and MargaretTaylor . Each has recently beenappointed as an ExtraordinaryMinister of the Eucharist.

"We took Holy Communion tothe sick of the parish about a

month ago ." says Sister Betty ." It was the highlight of my reli ­gious life beca use it truly is bring ­ing Chris t to others in the masttangible way. That is the ultimatein religious life ."

But in spite of the changes inthe convent over the years - andther e ha ve bee n many - SisterBetty sa ys she' s not caught up inthe current argument over therole of women in the Church.

"Or the role of siste rs, either,"she says, showing a bit of annoy ­ance for the first time . " I am notcaught up in th is bus iness of sis­ters wanti ng to be pri ests . TIleyshould get on with what we werefounded for - the privilege of0;ing the work of God and we havethe opportunity to do so in somany ways. Certain things areleft to the priest alone, just as cer­tain things are left to God alone .I don't have a problem with that:'

But getting on with their workdoesn 't necessarily mean reject­ing new ways . The Sisters of Mer­cy voted to stop wearing the longhab it in 1966. The veil now is op­timal and man y of the strict rulesof conduct no longer are ap-

DECKS AWASH - 33

plicable." Things are much more

relaxed today ," says Sister Bet­ty . "The convent doors have beenthrown open to the people . Ourteachers will often share a mealwith us. We have held twilightretreats for the young people ofthe parish as well. They cometogether at the convent and wehave a Holy Hour prepared. Andthen afterwards we have soupand sandwiches for them. It allhelps to build a Christian commu­nity and that's what it's anabout. "

But all this newness doesn 'tmean that the old-fashionedvalues are left behind .

" Our religious community al­ways comes first ," explains Sis­ter Betty . "I always say if 1don'tpray, forget my day. And that'strue. I have a time of privateprayer first thing in the morning.Aoo then we pray as a communi­ty at 7:45 a .m . and we have Massat 7 p.m . The religious life is verymuch a part of our lives. It 's firstand foremost and always mustbe." l1

Workin' the mine

"I know fellows my age havebeen stuck in the house for

years, never go anywhere," saysPatrick Walsh, 76. "Me, 1can 't dothat. I would go crazy. 1 was upthis morning at 6 o'clock and I'vebeen fiddling around ever sinc e.1do a few things around the housethat need to be done and I'm downto the Kelly 's Gas Bar everymorning to have a yarn with theboys. It helps to pass away thetime and keeps me active. "

Before he retired, Patrickworked in the mines at St.Lawrence for 24 years. He start­ed at the Iron Springs mine im­mediately after the second WocldWar but worked most of thoseyears for Alean .

"I loved it," be exclaims. "I'd goback tomorrow if they let me.1bere wasn 't a thing about ithnthered me. 1went underground

PatriCk Walsh

8-900 feet and I never thoughtabout it. And the work was hard.

When 1 started I was a handmucker. Weused a shovel to takeup the muck - that's what wecalled the ore - and load it in ironbuckets on the trolley. We'd ftrethe muck up over our heads withthe shovels . And in those dayswe'd have to shove the trams byhand . I enjoyed it that much thatwhen 1got retirement age I askedfor a year's extension."

Patrick was in the middle ofworking his extra year when theminers went on strike. Althoughhe was receiving his Old AgeSecurity, he was not getting hisCanada Pension because he wasstill working . But when the strikestarted he realized he was losingmoney because he wasn't gettingpaid and still couldn 't draw CPPbecause he was employed.

"So 1went in and asked to be re­tired then, " he recalls. "I knew it

Daphne Kelly

34 - OECKS AWASH

wasn't worth it for me to stick outthe strike. For all 1knew my one­year extension would be up beforethe strike was over."

Patrick worked the mines dur ­ing the time when many of his co­workers contracted silicosi s andlung cancer.

"Oh my God," he exclaims, " Isaw a lot of my friends get sickand die with silicosis and lungcancer. That silicosi s was bad.Youget the dust from the mine inyour lungs and you would getshort of hreath. Some lived foryears like that but a lot died too.

Wool wears well

D a phne KeHy never seems tostop. In addition to her regu ­

lar housework and her weeklybaking, she sews clothes , knitssweaters and makes quilts forher family . Then she turnsaround and does it an over againto sell in her store the B & DCentre in 51. Lawrence. The B isfor her husband Bud. She alsocarries fabric , wool, and craftsupplies for . those who wouldprefer to do it themselves.

"1 started the store three yearsago," she says. "It has been a lit­Uedifficult because the mine hadjust closed and then the fish plantdidn't provide the jobs wethought it was going to when itwas first built. But I've managedto get by."

The store is built onto ' theKelly's home . That saves Daphnethe added expense of paytng rent.But her capital is used up in otherways.

"You still have to keep yourstock in and that is where yourmoney goes, " she explains. " 1need to have a wide variety ofwools and fabrics on hand . It's nogood just to have the one old thingon the shelf all the time . Peopleget sick of it. And I can't alwaysbe running out of supplies either.When people come in to get woolor a fabric it's because they areready to start working OQ it. If 1don't have it in stock they arelikely to go somewhere else toget

But 1 never felt sick a day in mylife and. never thought of silico­sis or lung ca ncer in terms of my­self. There aren 't too manyfellows my age left a round.

" I drank too much alcohol toget sick ," he adds on a light ernote.

When he started in the mine,Patrick lived at Lord's Cove butmoved into St. Lawrence 17yearsago to be close to work .

"I got tired of going back andforth over that road ," he explains ." It was a dirt road in those days

it."Daphne became interested in

knitting, sewing and quilting as ayoung girl growing up inBlaketown. She picked up theskills by watching her mother.

" Mom used to card and spinher own wool," Daphne recalls ." We' d get the wool from localsheep and wash it. Then you'd putit on cards which were pieces ofplywood with little steel teethsticking up through them . Youpull it through the teeth on thecard to separate it and get thedirt out of it. Then it was ready

and all the driving was beating upthe car. So I decided to shift inhere to St. Lawrence. 1 was bornin Lord's Cove but 1 like it heretoo. It 's a nice place. And it wasreaHy lively back then when themine was open. We made goodwages and there was plenty ofcash around. People had comefrom all over - Italy , Japan andother places because of the mine.And there was security. We al­ways knew we had jobs and therewas no such thing as unemploy­ment. It was Jots of fun to livehere ." ~

to be spun . 1used to love to cardbut 1always gave it to Mom to bespun."

Although she no longer cardsand spins her own wool ,homespun wool is available inDaphne's store.

"You can still smell the kero­sene in it," says Daphne, pickingup a skein to demonstrate . "It'swashed in kerosene to take theexcess oils out of it. When youmake a sweater with 100per centwoo), it's an idea to wash it inwater with a few drops of olive oilin it. That will make up for the

loss of natural oils and help stopmatting and those knobs woolsweaters get after they have beenwashed a few times ."

During the past summer,Daphne made five sweaters tosell in the store. She says she canmake a sweater in a few days ifshe is in the mood.

"If I'm not in the mood, forgetit," she admits. " But I've alwaysgot handknit goods for sale . [ sellthem for people around here.They buy the wool from me andI believe the least I can do is tohelp them sell their goods . It'sgood Cor business. Last year

those salt-and-pepper caps wereail the rage. As fast as the worn­en could knit them up they'd besold. This year it's clothes for'Cabhage Patch Kids' dolls. 1can't keep them on the shelves. "

Daphne is only too happy togive her customers advice andhelp them choose wools or fabricfor a particular pattern they wantto make.

"When I first opened up, a lotof people came to me to learnhow to knit, " she says. "Yearsago a lot of the women did it butmany of the younger peoplehadn't learned how. And those

DECKS AWASH - 35

who did were used to knitt ingwith acrylics. Woo), eve n if it'sonly a small percentage, looksmuch nicer and wears better, too.A lot of my customers really likeworking with the chunky yarnwhich is 25 per cent wool. Theycan throw it in the washingmachine and dryer and it won'tshrink. So it 's really easy to carefor."

With the promsie of the reopen ­ing of the mine and increased ac­tivity, Daphne is optimistic.

"I plan to slick it out, becauseI really like the business," sheconcludes. .",

Signals for safety

" 0 ur number one priorityis the safety of life at

sea," says Dan Pike, 26, radiooperator at the St. LawrenceCoast Guard Radio Station whichoperates 24 hours a day , yearround . "We are here to fulfilCanada's commitment to theSafety of Life at Sea Conferencethe first of which was held int914."

Dan started at the station in St.Lawrence in May after complet­ing an intense training course atthe Transport Canada TrainingInstitute at Cornwall, Ontario. Heexplains that safety of Life at SeaConferences are held on a regu­lar basis, the most recent in 1974at London, England. At one of theconferences it was agreed thatGreenwich mean time would beused for uniformity and safety atsea.

"Our emergency calls are der­ived from French words," ex­plains Dan. "We listen for threedifferent calls. The most urgentis 'mayday' which is an Englishcorruption of the French (venez)m'aider, which means '( come )help me' . Ifwe hear 'mayday', itmeans the ship is in grave andimminent danger of sinking andloss of lives is possible. Next is'pan-pan', which comes from theFrench word for broken down,and is used when a ship is in trou­ble but there is no immediate

danger. And finally , we use'securite' which means that thestation is about to transmit infer-

Helping out at homeKaren Giovannini recently

graduated from beauty cultureschool in Halifax. She worked asa hair stylist in St. John's forawhile but isn't sure she wants tocontinue in the business. She rrTN

is considering taking Social Wockat Memorial University next year.In the meantime she has movedback to St. Lawrence and is help­ing out with the family business,the K-Karen Motel.

mation concerning navigationalsafety of vessels . It could be agale warning, a sighting of ice, oran iceberg, notice of a brokenlight in a lighthouse, or a buoy outof place, or that a ship is about tonavigate a restricted channel andwants other ships to stay clear. Iwould then rebroadcast the infer ­mation and afterwards transmitit to the Coast Guard TrafficCentre in St. John's."

When a mayday does come in,Dan has got to know his job. Hecan't affo rd to brea k under pres­sure because tha t could mean un­necessary loss of life.

" I ca n't expec t my supervisorto behere to tell me what to do inan emergency," he says . "U'snotvery often my supervisor is herewhen I'm working. 1 shouldn'tneed any belp at all after thetraining t've had. First I estab­lish all the pertinent informationfrom the ship sending the may­day. We have a direct line toSearch and Rescue and we callthe information in to them andthey go right into action. So I actas a middleman. One thing younever do is give up eommunica­tim with a ship even after youhave contacted Search a ndRescue."

The calls could come in on oneof three frequencies: VHF forvery high freq uency. MF formedium frequency, and 500kilo-

36 - DECKS AWASH

hert z CW (Continuous Wave)which is Morse Code.

" No matter what else I do Imust constantly monitor thosethree frequenci es. We answera ny calls that come in becauseyou have no way of knowing ifa nyone else heard it. We oftenpick up calls from the States,Lands ' End on the southwest tipof England, and Radio Gibraltar- it depends on atmospheric ra­dio conditions ."

In Canada, the Coast Guardalso handles routine communica­tions between ships at sea andland. This includes telephone andtelex messages for both businessand personal reasons.

"We take an oath of secrecyand we swear allegiance to theQueen," continues Dan. "Theoath of secrecy is because wehandle these messages. All thisinformation is logged each timea message is received or sent ,even if it is only a test. It is knownas the public correspondenceservice...

The stations also provide abroadcast service. At scheduledand unscheduled times informa­tion is broadcast on specific fre ­quencies concerning weat~er

conditions and notices to ship­ping. There is also a continuousbroadcast of this information onVHF.

The aspect of the joh that thepublic is probably most familiarwith is monitoring the weatherconditions. Weather observationis done every three hours , 24hours a day, 365days a-year.

"I do a sky condition ," Dansays . " Right now the clouds ar estratus tractus."

OK, Dan, it's all Latin to us.Explain.

"They are flat clouds in a long,low grey layer with a ragged ,shredded appearance - so theyare fractured . I also estimate theheight and the percentage ofcloud cover , take a temperaturereading and work out the dewpoint temperature, wind speedand direction which right now is300degrees at 20knots per hour.Finally I take an altimeter read­ing which is used by aircraft pi­lots. The reading, which is 983right now, tells a pilot what tosethis altimeter at in order to deter ­mine has height above sea level."

...

AU this informa tion is codedand sent to the weather office atGander which uses it to puttogether the synopsis seen on ca­ble TV each day .

Dan enjoys the responsibility ofhis position and says his job isvery inter esting , if a bit hectic attimes . He was lucky to have se­cured a good job in his hometown.

"One thing, though, " he sayswith a smile, although he is veryserious, "you have to control yoursocial life so you can be sureyou'll always be completely alerton the job. The job is too impor­tant to allow an off day becauseyou were out late the night be­fore. Seconds can mean lives soyou have to be alert all the time "

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State of the art

DECKS AWASH - 37

Frank Lambe

I I any 01 the equipment at thestation breaks down, the

responsibility (or repairing itrests on the shoulders 01 FrankLambe, one of three techniciansemployed with the Coast Guardin St. Lawrence. Frank startedwith the Coast Guard Loran Cstation at Trepassey when he was21. Born at Maryslown, he hasbeen at St. Lawrence for 11yearsand now lives in Little St.Lawrence.

"I once had a situation wherethere was quit a bit of essentialequipment knocked out when thestation was struck by lightning,"Frank recalls. "I had to replacealI the burnt parts and there wasquite a bit of pressure on me . Weweren 't completely oil the air butwe were pretty sick (or a while.TIle damaged equipment was vi­tal to the operation of the station.Yoo really have to be on yourtoes."

Not all of Frank's days areworked under that kind 01 pres­sure. A lot 01what he does is partof a preventive maintenanceprogram.

"Each piece of equipment inthe station has a schedule ofmaintenance," he explains. "Wecheck it regularly to try to cor­rect something that could be­come a problem before it actuallybreaks down. It's my job to makesure that everything stays ingoodrepair so the radio operatorcan do his job effectively.'

The equipment being used inCoast Guard radio sta lions isconstantly being updated as thetechnology becomes more andmore advanced. In order to keepup with these new developmentsin his equipment, Frank must up­grade his skills.

"My original training is in elec­tronics technology," says Frank."I completed the three-yeardiploma program at the Collegeof Fisheries in St. John's. Sincethen I have been on Coast Guard­sponsored courses in England, SI.John's, the States, Cornwall , On­tario and other places on the

mainland. I have also taken somecourses my own through the Fed­eral Aviation Association in theStates. Your qualifications haveto be 'sta te 01the art' just like theequipment you are working on."

Frank says the computer hasnow become the way of the futurein his field just as it has in manyothers.

"We have microprocessorsnOW',' he continues. "So that's thenext step in upgrading for me. I'lJbe going on a course in St. John 'sin November.

"We are highly trained. If es­sential equipment breaks downduring an emergency we can't goto manuals to find out what iswrong or how to make the neces ­sary repairs. We have to know

what to do without hesitation andbe able to do it last and effi­ciently."

Frank works 10out of every 14days. His regular shill is Il-4 buthe's on call 24hours a day duringhis scheduled work days.

"The fellow on duty here canreach me on the radio in thetruck, hand-held radio telephoneor on my home phone," he ex­plains. "If I get a call to come inI have to gel here as quickly aspossible . According to the rules Ihave one hour from the time heputs out a call but you never pushthat. Your priority is to get inhere and get him back on lheair.That's why 1 live close by in Lit­tle St. Lawrence. It gives me amargin of safely in case theyhave a problem getting me."

Some might see being on call anuisance but Frank doesn't mind.He says other things make up forthe extra work and inconvenienceof being on call.

"We are well paid and get goodvacation time," he says. "Thereis security in the job too becausethe radio station is vital to safetyin shipping. It's a good job and 1get a great dea l of sa tisfactionfrom tIe 10~ it I'm luck) .,

38 - DECKS AWASH

Madam presidentLawrence but they never reallygot off the ground," explainsMeta. " But Austin worked hardand built the membership up andgot us a room in St. Augustine'sSchool. We painted and paperedit and put in a small kitchen. Andwe had organized a bus tour toEastport for the club in July of'82. But Austin died the week be­fore we were supposed to go.When they asked me to take overas president I decided to acceptso I could carry on his work. Wepostponed the bus tour but I didtake that group to Eastport at theend of August that year."

Each fall the club has a sale ofhandicraft goods. The men dowood crafts and the womencrochet and knit everything fromsweaters to gloves; still othersmake quilts . Meta 's aim is for theclub to become financially in­dependent.

"We moved out of the schooland into the old library buildingafter I became president," sheexplains. "The school is up on ahill and it's too icy in winter forseniors to get to. The town COWl­

cil rents the new building to us for$1a year and have guaranteed itto us at that price for as long asthere is a senior citizens' club inSt. Lawrence. But we have to de­pend on New Horizons grants tokeep going. It cost us $1500to put

Meta Lake with a driftwood sculpture her husband made.

on to other generations? We maynot have much formal educationbut we do have experi ence and Ithink that is very valuable andshould be shared."

But education is very irnpor ­tant to Meta. Her first husband,AlbertGrimes, whoworked in themine , died of cancer at the age of29.Meta was left with 3 boys agedeight months to five years and ahard decision to make .

"I swore the children would geta better education than what webad ," she says. "And I knew theywouldn 't get it if I stayed in St .Lawrence. I put them in an or­phanage in St. John's and went towork in the orphanage myself.That way 1 could get on my feetand be close to the children at thesame time . And they got theireducation - Russell is an instruc­tor at the College of Trades and

::-__"__.. I Technology . Albert is a vocation-

~j~~~~~l~~Ial school teacher and Harold is aheavy equipment operator in

Labrador City."Meta married Austin Lake af­

ter a trip home to St. Lawrencein 1976. They worked together be­ginning in 1979to build the mem­bership of the St. LawrenceGolden Age Club from 15to 52 by1982. When Austin died in 1982,Meta took over as president.

"There had been several at­tempts to get a seniors ' club in St.

D onna Slaney, 23, is one offour guides who were em­

ployed this summer to show visi­tors around the St. Lawrenceminers ' museum which containsartifacts and pictures of the com­munity 's fluorspar mines .

" Aggie Kelly , Ruby Drake,Ronnie Norman and I were em­ployed by the Social ServicesDepartment to run the museumfor 20weeks ," says Donna . " Dur ­ing the summer we were open 12noon to 8 p.m ., but now in the fallwe operate from 8 a .m. to 5 p.m.We had 1500tourists in 20weeks.Not too many were in the miningbusiness , but we had visitorsfrom as far away as New Yorkand Africa ."

"S enior citizens have an aw-fullot to contribute to the

community, and to each other,"says Meta Lake, president of theGolden Age Club at St . Lawrence."They have knowledge. And ev­ery one of us raised families , andhad to work with our hands. If aperson can sit down and turn outsomething useful and attractivewith his hands, isn't that some­thing to be proud of and to pass

electric hea t in the new buildingbefore we could eve n move intoit. We also have a problem in thatwe are payi ng commercial hydrora tes which work out to $150amonth . I don't think that's fair. Itwould make quite a bit of differ­renee financia lly if we could paydomestic rates."

The members get toget hertwice a week for a game of darts.Their regular monthly meeting isheld on the first Friday of eac hmonth and there is a card partythe second Friday of the month.They have also joined the New­fotmdJand and Labrador Pension­er s and Senior CitizensFedera tion and are affiliated

Lawn

with the National Pensioners andSenior Citizens Federation aswell.

"There are four of us who go tothe national convention eachyear," says Meta. "We are allwidows and we save our moneyto go because the club can't af­ford to send us. Last year was inKitchener, Ontario, and this yearwe went to Charlottetown, P.E.I.I really enjoy meeting people atthe conventions because thereare seniors there from Newfound­land to British Columbia. The ol­dest person is 93and he sits on theexecutive. And we discuss thingsof importance to senior citizens.Last year there were 86 resolu-

DECKS AWASH - 39

tions and the national federa tionbrings them right to Ottawa andlobbies on our hehalf. I'm rea llylooking forward to next yea r'sconvention in North Bay, On­tario, because we hope to bringsome resolutions from Newfound­land for the first time."

Meta says her involvement inthe Golden Age Club and her ac­tivities at the provincial and na­timalleve! are very important toher.

"I like to get people involvedand 1am very proud to carryonthe work that Austin started herein S1.Lawrence," she concludes."11"5 what keeps me going now.It means everything to me. "11

Busman's holiday

L awn is a pict uresq ue port setin a long, narrow harbour be­

tween steep hills. Cows wanderfreely grazing on the grass vergesat the road 's edge while horsesstare at us with rolling eyes. Thesun sh ines brigh tly from ana lmost cloud less sky whichmak es us happy because there'sfog and ra in in S1.J ohn's. Anotherhappy man we bump into is AlfStrang who is carrying a largewheel-wrench to do some work onhis school bus.

"I've been in the school bus bus­iness for six years now," says Alf."It's a bit noisy sometimes, butyou get used to it. I bought the busin 1979. It's got only 76,000kilometres on it. Any work that'sto he done I do myse lf. I'm wait­ing until my Christmas holiday todo the seats. I took a few trips toSt. J ohn's with the cadets andthey made those holes in thecovers. I suppose they had noth­ing else to do, but at least theycould have gone to sleep," he sayswith a resigned laugh.

Alf used to fish but after sixyea rs he gave it up.

"The big thing here is the trapfishery. I'd say there's close on ahundred fishermen here fish in

Alf Strang

summertime. H.B. Dawe buys it,they have a saltfish plant. Butthey've got to be 18inches or theplant won't buy them. My fatherwas fishing here this swnmer andhe probably brought in 14-15,000pounds of end a day. But by thelime he'd weighed it in you mightonly have 4-5,000 pounds over 18inches. The rest you have to throwaway. Not a dam thing you can dowith the stuff and yet so manypeople starving in the world.

"Things weren't always likethat. Back in the late '60s and the70s Booth Fisheries bought allOlD"fish. They were an Americancompany and everything we

caught they bought. They're gonenow,The Lake group came in andlook over. I suppose in some waysthey were the good old days.

"Take when the mines wereworking in St. Lawrence. You'dwork at Aleen all winter, you'dcome home in the spring of theyear and go fishing, then in thefall you'd haul up your boat, putaway your gear and go back toAl­can and work aJl winter. It wouldhe a great thing if they got themine working again," he adds.

After quitting the fishing Alfwent into business.

"I had a store for 12years. Soldmost everything from a bag ofnails to a piece of moulding forfacing a door. But I got tired of itand sold it. A rat race, rat race ...

"You worked 16 or 17 hours aday. People just kept coming in.They'd ring you 12 o'clock atnight, especially fishermen whowanted something for their boat.I'd get up and give it to them.Then you'd go to St. John's onceor twice a week for supplies."

AIr sold the business andbought a bus and his wife Mariehad another child.

"I've got six children, all girls.Theeldest is 18,she's at universi-

40 - DECKS AWASH

ty. The youngest is 17months. It 'sa bigspread inages butwedidn'thavetimewhileI was inbusiness,we were sobusy .

"I suppose the populatinn ofLawn is about UOO. It's been thatway for years . We have four orfive corner stores. a plumbingsupplier, a post office, and twoclubs : the Legion and the Shain­rock . I suppose there must be alot of beer drinkers here to keeptwo clubs going,"notes AUwith amischievous grin.

"There isn't much work aboutbut you can't move out becausethere's no where to move to.Things are had all over so youmight as well stay put. Also, 90per cent of the people here owntheir ownhomes, so who'sgoingto buy your home if you leave?Youcan't ask $50,000 for a homebecause nobody 's got the money .Anyway, you could build yourselfa nice house,nota large one, buta half decent one for about

lawn

$30,000. So why pay $5O,OOO? " I the time. He has toreupholster 36It's a good point. hut All doesn't bus seats during the school

seem toodownhearted; he hasn't Christmas holidays. "'

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Prosperous we're not

DECKS AWASH - 41

T he communit y of Lawn tpop.1025) has a council office

built in 1977. It contains Council'schambers, meeting rooms , andoffices such as that of TownClerk, Ruth Bennett . It looksquite prosperious.

"Ha , ha ," laughs Ruth Bennett ."Prosperous is one thing we'renot. When the mine in St .Lawrence went down we lost a lotof jobs . At least a hundred peoplehere were working in the mines,and of course that was a loss oftax revenue for us . Then ourmainstay, the fishery, failed thelast five years . We always had agood fishery until then. Men hadno problem making their livingduring the summer months . Nowhalf the time they don't cleartheir expenses. My brother hasbeen at it these last five yearsand he's been going deeper indebt all the time.

"Then again we had a nice fewpeople working at the Burinplant, but that closed out, so nowwe've lost everything. There'snothing else around . Weare real­ly hard hit and the fi~hery r.es­tru cturing program did nothingto help us ."

Ruth lists the community'sdifficulties without bitterness orappear ing to complain. These are

Ruth Bennett

the facts of life for Lawn and thepeople cope as best they ~an .

Ruth is lucky, she has a Job,although her electrician husbandJim has not.

I applied for this job 10 yearsago when I was 17. I don 't k~owI got it. I had just finished a rune­month course at vocationalschool.

"What do I do? Everything. It'squite extensive : payroll, billing,tax levies . The vocational coursegave me shorthand, typing , atouch of bookkeeping - not a lot.Mainly I had to learn on my ownwhen I got here .

" Right now Council has a sew­age project it's doing on a directlabor basis . Usually it 's tenderedout to a contractor, but on adirect labor basis the council un­dertakes to do the work them­selves giving people in thecommunity jobs . Last year wehad $250,000 in loans and grantsand we gave about 80 people 10week 's work so they could quali­fy for VIC , otherwise they wouldhave been facing welfare. We'redoing the same again this yearbut we 've had less money . So farwe've employed 70 people, butnot necessarily all of them for 10weeks ."

Ruth admits that one of themain social issues in the commu­nity is whether livestock shouldbe allowed to wander freely , butshe is reluctant to comment.Many people depend on thean imals as a source of food buthave no enclosed areas to containthem. The local Development As­sociation provided a paddockabout 10 miles away but animalowners say tha t trucking animalsto it is an unnecessary expense.Opponents object to the damageroaming animals inflict on pri­vate property. Animal ow~ers

claim free grazing as an ancientright.

The issue is social and econom­ic, and oddiy reminiscent of theEnclosure acts of 16th centuryEngland. There, over a period ofdecades, the rich , fenced com­mon pasture lands prevented thepoor from owning any animals ataU.

Ruth says women town clerksare more common than onemight think.

"I've met quite a few," shesays . " I was at a fire preventioncourse recently and of 22 peoplethere, 12 were women .

42 - DECKS AWASH

" I deal mainly with men, it'strue . But that doesn't bother me.It did at first. Sometimes tem­pers fly, but you get used to it."

Ruth has two children, Doug 6,and a daughter Beverley, 3.

"Right now my husband Jimlooks after them. His cooking'sbetter than mine. But he doesn 'twash the baby , you can 't expectthat ," she says with a laugh.

"I usually get most or thehousework done before I leave in

the morning. Doug goes to theprimary school by the officehere .We have a high school, too. Infact, they tried to close it out afew years bac k. They were goingto bus the kids to school, but wefought it, formed a SChool Im­provement Committee , and aftera year we wonand got to keep ourschool.

The phone rings for the tenthtime during the interview . Ruthpicks it up and is immediately puton hold. She rolls her eyes

towards the ceiling - some pee­ple pass their lives on hold.

"Government departments!"she says . "They give you the run­around. If you ca ll them you' lljust have the problem explainedand they' ll say , 'hold on, I'll putyou on to somebody else. ' Andwehave to pay the phone bill forthat. "

We bid our goodbyes and backout of Ruth's office leaving herholding a silent phone.

Fill up with Fred

S ome gas stations sell con­venience food often from a

s mall, glass-fronted cooler.Others contain an entire room!illed with rood based on the ideaif you're filling the car you mightas well fill the driver too. It's agrowing trend and there's an ex­ample in Lawn where Fred Coxhas an Ultramar gas station.Fred has divided his 3l1-ft. by4O-ft. building in haIr, on the lefthe has a deep service bay, on theright a regu lar sma ll store.

" We're just getting sta rtedhere," says Freet "We're not put­ting too much food in yet as this Fred Cox

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Branch office to serv ice the Bur in Peninsula atCreston

Cox's Convenience Store

to graze the grass next to hermaster's building.

"You 'll see a Jot of cows wan­dering around here, " says Fred."We have the odd person come toCouncil and say we should barthem in, and we have the odd ac­cident with them, but I'm an ad­vocale of letting that sluff be asit is. We have tourists come herein summer and follow those cowsfor hours ."

Letting cows roam and grazewhere they will also aUows pe0­ple who might not have a field 10keep a cow. Fred. sums it up.

"When you take the cows offthe side of the road you've be­come a Canadian, you're nolonger a Newfoundlander."

Lawn has about 250 houses .There is no property tax butproperty owners pay a poll tax of$60 a year and sa a month forwater service. Fred estimatesthat only 10 or 15 people havemortgages on their homes .

"When you get home and kickoff your shoes , it's a nice feelingto know whatever you've got isyour own," says Fred whosehouse started life as a school.

"I brought the old school, didsome work on it, then packed mybag and went to Ontario forawhile to make some money.

When I got back I did some morework on the house . In Ontario Iremember walking nine miles tothe union hall each day until I geta job, but I finally got one - andholes in my shoes ," he chuckles.

" I was in the armed forces too,in British Columbia, Manitoba,and three years in Germany.

" I grew up in Lawn . As a boyI never seemed to have enoughtime to do everything. You'dcome home from school , do thegarden, the hay, Ihe fish , drivethe cow home and even pick blue­berries along the way . We werehappy . We had everything and

DECKS AWASH - 43

yet we weren 't rich . We didn 'thave big cars but we always hadsomething In eat and drink. AlChristmas you'd have a quarterof meat hanging out the upstairswindow and you'd have your cab­bage buried out in the garden inan earth house . Now boy, thingshave changed!"

A bil of the philosopheremerges in Fred.

"President Kennedy said itbest : •...ask not what your coun­try can do for you; ask what youcan do for your country '. Perhapsthat's what people should bedoing. " IJl

Winning the battle

T he comunity of Lawn seemsto be a quiet place to live ­

a most unlikely place for picketlines In form and the RCMP In beflown in because of an ongoingdispule. But that's just what hap­pened when the Roman Calbolicschool board for the Burin Penin­sula announced that Holy Nameof Mary Elementary/High Schoolwould be closed. Jusl as unlikelyis the involvement of GertieLambe, a quiet, shy resident ofLawn who was treasurer of theLawn School Commillee whichwas formed 10 fighl the schoolclosure.

"The school goes from Grades4 In 12 - il was Grade 11 at thelime, " says Gertie. "They want -

Gertie Lambe

ed to bus our kids to the newDREE school in Sl. Lawrence.They said our Holy Name was inneed of repair and that if our chil-

dren went to St. Lawrence theywould gel a beller educalion be­cause the facilities were better.But that was only a bluff. Ourchildren had been going on touniversity and becoming doctorsand nurses and lawyers just thesame as students from other highschools. "

The parents in Lawn had theirown suspicions about why theBoard wanted to close the localschool. Gertie also had a fewideas on the decision.

" They buill that new schoolbigger than it needed to be," shesays. "And when they didn'l haveenough students from St.Lawrence they decided to takeour crowd and put them in it to

44 - DECKS AWASH

justify building it so big. But noneof them would ever admit to it.They just kept giving us the samereasons and we weren 't going toaccept them ."

There wer e se vera l reasonswhy Gertie did not want her twosons , Blaine and Brian travellingto St. Lawrence. She sa ys theylearned their lesson about losingthe school in a community whenthey lived in Roundabout whichwas between Lawn and Lord 'sCove.

"One year they sta rted sendingthe Roundabout high school stu­denls in here to Lawn for school,"she recalls . "The next year it wasthe Grade 7s and 85, and thenthey closed the school a ltogether.The next thing we knew the wholecommunity was resettled. Thatwas in 1968. I'll tell you [wouldn 'twant to live here if ther e was noschool. "

Busing was a nother reasonmany parents decided to fight thedecision . They believed it was toodangerous having the studentstravel over the highway to St.Lawrence during the winter .

"It's not that far a ride , but in

Lord's Cove

Back home

T he ten kilometres of unpavedroad that connects Lawn and

Lord's Cove undulates over thetreeless barrens giving an unin­terrupted view of the craggycoastline. Descend ing the lastdusty incline, the road suddenlybecomes paved again a nd leadsinto Lord 's Cove, a collection ofhouses neatly tucked into a pro­tected hay. Wefound Wayne Fitz­patrick, 31, in a red , woolen shirtsplitting wood by the side of hishouse . Wayne is mayor of Lord 'sCove and lives right beside thecouncil building . Wayne happil yabandoned. his wood-splitting andtook us into his warm office .

"There was a nice bit of fishhere this year," says Wayne ."Three trap boat crews operatefrom here and about 20 dories .Our sailfish plant was oper atingunder H.8 . Dawe and the y em-

the winter the road just isn't keptplowed enough. It 's always openfrom Marystown to St. Lawrencebut from here to St. Lawrence it'snot. There'd be too many timeswhen they couldn 't get over theroad and it's not the safest trip tomake even when you ca n get overit."

The school committee or ­ganized picket lines which stood24 hours . The high school stu­dent s were then sent to St .Lawrence but many parents kepttheir chi ldre n out of school thatyear in protest.

"We were that adamant thatwe stood out in the snow all nightlong at times ," Gertie continues ." Wewere afraid they 'd go in andtake the supplies out of the schoolso we always had some peoplethere. There were only two orthr ee families here that weren 'ton our side. Everyone elsehelped .

" We wrote letters to the schoolhoard , Archhishop Penney, LynnVerge - everyone we could thinkof. We also went to the Boardoffice in Burin for meetings andto St . John 's. Some of the pick-

Wayne Fitzpalrick

ployed about 20 men . The fisher­men sell to the plant. Inside theysplit, wash , and salt it then leaveit for a week or two until H.B.Dawe com es out and carries it

eters were bonded to keep thepeace and some were arrested.They never got the chance to getme though . You should have seenit. They flew in Mounties byhelicopter from all over . You'dnever know but there was a bankrobbery going on the way theycame in"

Gertie says there were someunpleasant incidents. Some peo­pie started throwing eggs at thebus and the parents as they puttheir children on the bus .

"There was no need of that,"she says. "We didn 't approve ofthat at all . If some parents want­ed to send their children to 51.Lawrence, that was their dect­sioo and we didn 't want to in­terfere.

" But we won in the end. I creditFather John Maddigan with help­ing us. After he came here hewent to the Board and then it wasdecided to leave the school open .They spent close to $200,000 fixingup the school.

"I'd do it all over again. I be­lieve that a community needs aschool. A community just dieswhen the school is taken away"

away. The plant opened the endof May and I suppose it wasfinished the end of september.

"We have about 30 people herework in fish plants at Fortune andMarystown. They travel backand forth each day . The returntrip is about 80 miles and theyleave at six in the morning andget back at six in the evening. Alittle hus takes about 15 to For­tune, the others go by car toMarystown . I work in the plant atFortune, but the draggennenwent out on strike so there's beenno fish since July. We get our un­employment and the draggermenget their strike pay .

"We had some Canada Worltsprojects this year. Ten men wereemployed for 12weeks repairingthe Community Centre and wehad a summer project that em­ployed 8 students for 6 weeks

DECKS AWASH - 45

lord's Cove

" ... _r"

'. ~, --

- ,-~~!.-:\.' --:-:;;.

painting the outside of the build­ing. There wasn't much money sothe painting was rather limited ."

The population of Lord's Covedeclined from 409in 1976 to 384in1981. Wayne's par ents moved toNova Scotia a year ago to findwork.

"There's only me , my brotherEmmanuel, and my sister Emmaat home now, She's taking care ofthings. Weall doa bit of cooking.] like experimenting, I likeChinese food, sweet-and-sourspare ribs, things like that. I justhave the basics, soya sauce, Wor­cestershire sauce, cornstarch, afrying pan. Emma bakes bread,cakes, and pies. I don't bake - butI eat it ," he adds with a grin ." Em ma cooks real well and shedoes most of the cleaning ."

After leaving school Wayneworked in Lord's Cove for awhilethen went to Toronto where heworked six months. He rtumed in1975and decided to join the Can­dian armed forces ,

" I was with the Royal Canadi­an Regiment stationed inPetawawa, Ontario . I was at theOlympic games in 1976 as part ofthe security, and then I was on sixmonths U.N. duty in Cyprus . Itwas a real challenge to get to go.

We took special training and wearrived in OCtober and returnedin April. It was pretty warm inCyprus and freezing in Ottawawhenwe got back. Weall bad sun­tans but pretty soon lost them. Ileft the mililary in 1!178. I wouldn'tknow why, but right now I regretit. I was only a private but if I'dstayed, by this time I would havebeen up the line."

Wayne returned to Lord's Coveand took a nine-month weldingcourse at Burin Distri ct Voca­tional School.

"I've never used it. Welding isa good trade and I look for a jobin it every now and then, but Ican't lind one. I couldn't get a jobthat summer in 1979, so I went tothe fish plant at Fortune and I'vebeen there ever since. " l!I

Everybody needs food

T here are just two stores inLord's Covealthough at one

time there were about four. Ofthe present two,one is owned andru n by bright and cheerful AnneKirby and her assistant, LucyHodge.

"You spend a lot of hours atthis," admits Anne. "I've gotmine cut down now, I close at sixo'clock, but that 's only since lastyear . I still work six days and twonights a week.

Wewondered whether her hus­band Tom (who manages the fishplant ) or her two teena ged sonssandy and Dale ever saw theirmother at home before this year .

"Everything in the store comesby truc k from St. John 's , Car­bonear, and Grand Bank ­places like that. There's a sales- Anne Kirby and lucy Hodge

Lord's Cove

46 - DECKS AWASH

man in just about every day. Themain thing is groceries, but wecarry other things in case peoplemight want them. But you don'treally know what will sell. Youlook at it and think somebodyshould buy it. but not everybodyhas the same taste as you,There's always a lot of stuff thatjust doesn't move. We've proba­bly had some things here six ortwelve months.

..At least everybody needsfood. Even if times are really badpeople have to eat, so you seldomget stuck with food."

Lord's Cove has no bank, soAnne finds herself acting as oneat times.

"Some people may pay theirbill with a big fish check, then Ihave to drive to S1. Lawrence orGrand Bank to deposit it. Wehave no doctor or dentist hereeither, soyou have to get to them,although the doctor will make ahouse call if somebody isbedridden.

"The school is at Lamaline, butthat's not so bad with the schoolbus. We can't complain. It's nice

Taylor's Bay

Helping himself

"T here used to bemore pe0-ple here years ago," says

GordonHillier, 64,of Taylor's Bay."But people are looking for workthese days. There's no work hereand they're moved everywhere ...the mainland, the States, St.Jam's."

That, in fact, is what Gordondid when he was 20 years old. Hewent to St. John's and got a job inthe dietary department at theWaterford Hospital. His wifeElizabeth, from St. Jones Within.Trinity Bay, also worked at thehospital. Gordon worked there for25 years but in 1981 got tired ofcity life, took early retirementand moved back to Taylor's Bay.

"I had to buy my wife a horsetoget her to come," he says witha smile.

"That's right," Elizabeth

here."Did my parents have a store?

No, neither Tom's parents normine did. we were silly enough toget into it," says Anne with alaugh.

agrees with a laugh. "( told himI wasn't coming unless I couldhave a pony and that's what I got.Nowyou wouldn't get me to leavehere. I love it."

But what makes the Hilliersable toadjust to living in so smalla community after living in alarge centre for so many years?Taylor's Bay has no store, postoffice or even a community build­ing. There are only a few housesbelonging to people who stayed onafter most of the others left.

"I can do a bit of work to helpmyself without anyone pushingme," explains Gordon. "Don't getme wrong nO'N. I'm a worker andI'm always busy. But I'm my cwnboss. I grow potatoes, carrots, tur­nips, cabbage _.. I have twogardens. I cut my own wood anddig my own turf - what you call

U you are a tourist passingAnne's store, drop in. Over on thefar wall she still has some "cab­hage patch" dolls. Unless thenews has got around, you may beable to buy one. I!

peat moss - to heat my house.We use a drop of oil, but notmuch. And I can put somethingdown here without worrying ifsomeone will take it."

Gordon ownsa pickup truck butuses his horse to haul wood andpeat moss, as well as kelp, whichhe uses to fertilize his gardens.

"You might say I'm too foolishto use the truck," he jokes. "Butsometimes I even lug things onmy own back because.it's toomuch bother tohitch up the horse.It's born into me, I guess, and Ican't change.

"When I was growing up here,we had a wheelbarrow and wereconsidered lucky. But back theneveryone was the same. It was theDepression, there was no work,and nobody had anything over thenext fellow. We had to get Relief

Elizabeth and Gordon Hillier with grandson Bobby , 2.

OECKS AWASH - 47

just hard work anymore. Schoolis important. "

Gordon has two children still athome and a grandchild as wellliving with them. He and

' E lizabeth bought a small housewhen they returned but theybought it lor the land. They hopeto build a new house in the nearfuture so they wiH have a com­fortable home for theirretirement.

"When you get a certain ageyou want to come home," con­cludes Gordon. "It's nice andquiet here and that 's what I want­ed - a quiet place to live," "

the people left here JlOW'are most­ly my age."

When Gordon left Taylor 's Bayhe had gone only to Grade 3. Hehad dilliculty in school becausehis eyesight was very poor andthey couldn 't get glasses lor him.

"But it was different in thosedays ," he cautions . "I workedhard to get a job and keep one.And sometimes I felt bad when 1couldn't understand things be­cause I didn't get far in school.But 1 always got by. Thday it'sdifferent. Kids today have got tohave an education to get a jobworth having. Youcan't get by on

but worked to get what we could .I started fishing with my fatherwhen I was nine and kept at thata good many years. We had ourvegetable gardens, too, and myfather kept a good many cattle.Today there's all classes 01peopleout here all according to il theyare working and what they areworking at. It 's not the same atall ."

Still, although living in Taylnr 'sBay enables Gordon to live theway be wants to, he says there issomething missing {rom when hewas growing up here.

"There used tobehousesdownby the water there. They were on8 bogand we would have to walkaround by the shore to get out.There was never all that manyhomes but there were lots of pe0­ple. Wehad a big crowd 01youngpeople here when I was growingup. Yousee, everybody had big fa­milies. Wehad a school and therewas also an Anglican church atthat lime. Most 01the people wereBmnells or Hilliers and there wasone family of Woodlands. Nowthere're only a lew houses lelt and

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48 _ DECKS AWASH

Point au Gaul

Management's the key

little prospect of gaining anotherjob, he decided not to join otherlaid-off workers who went to On­tario and British Columbia insearch of mining work.

"I had a home in St. Lawrence,

~~CALL LONG DISTANCE "CJ --.---

I've still got it, but you couldn'thave sold it then. Youwould havehad to give it away. Then, what ifyou'd got your family out to B.C.and didn't like it? Or couldn't geta job? You'd have given yourhome away and have nothing tocome back to. No, I figured if youcouldn't make it in Newfoundlandyou couldn't make it at all.

"I did some homework for thisclub, spent about two months lay­ing it out, then I went to the Fed­eral Business Development Bankand talked to them. [got the loan.Four of us built this place in 13weeks. We did foundations,plwnbing, wiring - everything,and we had to haul all thematerials."

The lounge was a success, part­ly because of its location - otherthan the Legion there is no simi­lar establishment for 10 mileseast or 2Smiles west - and part­ly from long hours and good.management. Edgar, who did ayear's course in practical ac­counting, does his own book­keeping.

"I'd like to get paid for the hoursI've put in," he says. "Even 50cents an hour and I'd be doinggood. I do my ownbooks so [ know

Edgar King

oo

H ighway 14 between Taylor's III~~"'!Bay and Lamaline is fairly

flat and straight. Only a signposta few miles short of Lamaline in­dicates the existence of Point auGaul, a mile south of the mainhighway. Across the road fromthe signpost. strategically placedto benefit from the passingtraffic, is King's Lounge, ownedby Point au Gaul native, EdgarKing.

"I wasn't always in this busi­ness," says Edgar. "I worked atthe mines for 28years with Alcanat St. Lawrence. I was storekeep­er there. When the mine closed Icame back to Point au Gaul, bor­rowedthe money and started thisplace. I just made up my mind todo it. I had no experience withthis kind of thing before."

Edgar appears to have donewell. When Alcan closed its mineEdgar was only four years fromretirement. With no pension and

DECKS AWASH - 4i

if she's still solvent at the end ofthe month . Many small business­es don't know how well they 're do­ing until it 's too late to doanything about it."

This summer Edgar and hiswife Ruth opened a sears' mail­order outlet in the lower half ofthe building. Ruth manages theoperation including the smallstore of more popular items.

The Kings had five sons . Twoare mechanical engineers, twoare at university, and one, Brian ,who took business administra­tim, operates a hardware store inFort une . With their childrengrown up, the Kings are lookingfor ways to develop the area. Edg­ar would like to develop localtourism.

"We've got two sa lmon rivershere, the Salmonier River andTaylor 's Bay River. Weget a lot ofpeople come here to fish but

Point au Gaut

there's nowhere for them to stop. Sands about a mile-and-a-halfThey park their campers and away. There's shellfish and lob­trailers by the river, but there 's no ster; and if a fellow brought hissewage in place and that's an en- boat he'd be only a few minutesvironmental hazard. With the De- ru n from the fishing ground.velopment Association here, We've got a beautiful pond idealwe're trying to get a campground for swimming and boating - ifset up. There's good hunting - only we had a campground withpartridge and moose - and a water and sewage. It could be putgood beach called Point au Ga ul in at minimal cost." ~

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grass and scrub. He has a two­and-one-half hour walk ahea d ofhim.

has food in a small back-pack. Al­ter the food is eaten he will usethe pack to bring back bis kill.Terry has a camp built out on thebarrens and will meet somefr iends there. We drove him ashort way a long the highway thenleft him se tt ing off thro ugh the

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Gaul is hea ded for the barrens toshoot partridge. He carries histz-gau ge shotgu n broken acrosshis ann which he explains, "is thelegal way to carry it." He expectsto be gone several days and he

•50 - DECKS AWASH

Lamaline

Land loss at Lamaline

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T he community of LamalineIits western end Allan 's Islandspreads in a wide , flat cres- which is connected by a half-mile

cent around a broad harbor about causeway. The houses form anone mile in breadth. It includes at almost continuous single line

along the community's one road.In North Lamaline most of thehouses are on the land side of theroad for at high tide the ocean

r---------------------, I floods across the shallow harborand approaches the road . Oneman who owns property on theseaward side is mayor LeslieLovell who operates the commu­nity 's only service station.

"In 10 years we've lost 4Sfeetof land from behind the garagehere, " says Les ."We' ve been try­ing to get something done aboutit for years. When the tide's outthe whole harbor is a mass ofboulders. We would like to getsomething to push them backtowards the shore and protect theland from further deterioration.

" We have another problem atthe west end of the community.There's about 13houses that getflooded during the winter storms.We've had to take people out DCtheir homes by tour-wheel-driveand by grader several times.With four feet of water and thetide and wind, we've had somedifficulties getting people out at

times. Next week we have ameeting with Municipal Affairs,so I hope we will be able to dosomething about it. "

Les became mayor of Lama ­line six years ago when, as dep­tuy mayor, he succeeded to thepost when the then current mayorleft. His fellow councillors elect­ed him to the position again twoyears later. Prior to that he spentfive years as fire chief .

" I was born close by at HighBeach ," says Les . " But it wasresettled back in 1959. When Ifirst left school I went teaching atRocky Harbour near Marystown,and then in Fortune Bay ."

Teachers' pay was low thenand attending summer school ad­ded to the expense. Les marriedSusan Labour from Grand IePierre and after four years'teaching he left to work at the fishplant in Fortune.

"I worked at every job therefrom beginning to plant supervi­sor, " says Les. "When theflsherywas going good anybody whowanted a job could get one . Wehad 250on night shift at one time.As supervisor at that time Iwould hire anybody on the shorethat could take a knife in theirhands. "

After five years of running thenight shift Les decided it wastime for a change. He had takentime off in 1966to attend a ninemonth auto-mechanics course atvocational school. In 1973he wentto work for John Hillier who ranthe local garage.

"The garage was only half asbig then," says Les . ,.After threeyears I bought John out andmade it the present size. Johnnow owns the superette acrossthe street."

The garage is a wooden build­ing with two bays . He is helped byhis son Robert, and George King.

"A lot of people do their ownrepairs here . In fact we lendmore tools than we use some­times," he adds wryly . " Whenthey get something they can 'thandle they come to us, especial­ly something requiring heat froma welding torch. With the salt andcorrosion here 's it's almost im-

DECKS AWASH --1

lamaline East

possible to remove, say a control around May 1st and runs forarm that's been on six or seven about 3 weeks . The trap seasonyears, unless you can heat it. We starts about June 20th and lastsalso do a little patchwork on bod- about 6 weeks. The fish either goies. Robert does that. to the saltfish plant at Lord 's

"You have your share of frus- Cove or to Fortune, although wetrations in this job, like spare had a guy called Blackwood fromparts. You either have a part or Cia renville picked upmost of theyou don't. If you don't, you have fish around here this year.to go to Marystown for it. It's "We have about 25 peopleabout 50 miles, sometimes for a working in the fish plant at For­$10item. But there it is, how long tune , but the last few years havecan you keep a customer wait- not been as good as they used toing? You may lose on that job but be. This used to be a prosperousyou hope you'll make on the next area when all the plants wereone. Still, it's about as good as operating.Still,youshouldtaIktoyou're going to do around here. Annie Hillier , our development

" I suppose there's about 40 in- co-ordinator. We have someshore fishermen operating from projects going to use kelp andhere. There's five trap boats and peat, and we've got an astronomi­they all go dory fishing when the cal amount of that around here ,"trap season finishes. They have concludes Les as he goes off tolump row fishing here that starts work on a customer's car. .,

~

---------,t.---...52 - DECKS AWASH

Heat from peat and help from kelp

Annie Hillier

to a year to drain completely. Anextruder comes next. This takesup the peat , mixes the top andbottom layers, then makes it intotubular rolls about the size of fire­logs. Mter that you need a devicefor turning it so that it dries,which takes five or six days whenthe sun 's out. Youcan 't stockpileit until it's dry, it just falls apart."

Annie explains that much of theresearch on peat use in New­foundland has been done at St.Shotts. The special equipment isavailable from Finland andIreland.

"I think they're selling their

A nnie Hillier is the co­ordinator for the Greater

Lamaline Area Development As­socia tion. A bright, bouncy wom­an with an apparent abundanceof energy, Annie co-ordinates thedevelopment activities of sixcommunities from Lawn to PointMay.

"We've got 46 volunteers," ex­plains Annie. "Tha t's nine peoplein each of the five communitiesplus a person from Taylor 's Bay,The Association would never beable to work without them . Wemeet the first Tuesday in eachmonth.

"We've got several projects onthe go right now.First, we're look­ing into the peat industry. We'rehoping to get a grant so tha t wecan cut and sell it because itburns better than wood, andthere's hardly a tree for 30 mileswecan cut for firewood. There'sa 150-acrebogat Point May calledSpruce Pond Iarsh that we'd liketo start with.

"First we'd need a tractor withspecial attachments. Youneed todrain the area before you cantake up the peat. That's done bycutting a ditch round the areawith a ditcher. It takes six months

peat at St . Shotts for about $35aton," says Annie. "We would liketo sell it to householders here.We'dalso like to look into using itto run fish plants in some kind ofauxiliary boiler instead of usingthe oil they burn now. In Irelandthey generate their electricity us­ing peat.

''Another project is using kelpfor fertilizer. We've got a CanadaWorks Project on some cowpasture in Point May. The kelpwashes up in the bays aroundhere and people have been put­ting it on their gardens for years,so we thought, why not put it tosome use? We've started off bycomparing it with commercialfertilizer, and if it works outperhaps we will package it.

"But we'll probably have to addsome chemicals to it," she adds,pulling a race. " It has a rottensmell on it when it dries!

"We have another pasture atPoint au Gaul where we havebeen using it, but we keep horsesthere. We have a lot of horsesaround here. So many of themwere damaging property and run­ning into cars that we decided toput them aUin this pasture for thesummer. We charge $15a horseand there's someone checking onthem to see they're aU right. Wehad about 70 horses this year,mostly from Point au Gaul toPoint May, although some horseswere from Grand Bank and For­tune. Now we're trying to get alease on the land because wedon't own it."

Annie worked for the Develop­ment Association for about fouryears then succeeded the previ­ous co-ordinator, Don Collins,when he left. She was born andlives at Lamaline with her hus­band Fred Hillier, a fisherman,and their son, Tony, aged 7.

"You have to go out once inawhile and stir people up," says

~11111~"~ I~~~~~~::,:~-~~~p~~~"-._ '• ••'. I all keen and all volunteers.

Peat farming at Sf.Snorts. (Photo courtesy 01 the Southern Avalon Development There's only me that gets paid toAssociation) do all this." II

DECKS AWASH - 53

We met one of the paying guests from the horse pad dock as wewere lea ving Developm ent Co-ordinator Annie Hillier 's office. Ap­parently Prince, 16, ha d been less impressed with the facilities tha nthose a fforded by his master Sherman King. Sherm an had awokenthat morn ing to find Prince sta nding by the back door of his house.

Prince is here being led bac k to the padd ock a mile or so away.In winter Sher ma n uses him to haul wood and kelp . We fed Pr incea few cookies, but he had tr ouble ea ting them with the bit of hisbr idle in his mouth . However, he agree d to return to ca ptiv ityprovided we publi sh his picture a nd story.

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54 _ DECKS AWASH

PointMay

Waiting for the boom

"Ten years ago there wasnosense applying for a

Canada Works grant in Point Maybecause no one needed the jobs ,"says Piercey 1I01l0'0"'ay, mayor ofthe community. "Everybody wasworking and yoo couldn 't get pe0­ple to lake the jobs , Thday, thathas all changed. We've had a bout60jobs provided through one typeof grant or another over the pastyear and there 's aJways beenthree or four men applying foreach job. With the number of un­employed because of strikes. lay­offs and closures, you have to usethose grants as a stop-gap meas ­ure to keep people going ."

The same thin g has happenedwith regard to the developmentassociation in the area accordingto Piercey. He remembers a timewhen the Greater Lamaline De- Piercey Holloway with a sample of theirvelopment Association almost hope lor the future- peal mossfolded because of lack of interest.

"At one meeting we couldn 't nated to fill nine positions. The in­even get enough people to run to terest is high because of the hardfill the posts on the executive. We economic times . Let's face it,just had our election of officers that's when you need crganiza­for the Point May local awhile tions like the development associ­back. There were 22 people nomi- ations the most."

The new community wharf at Pie Duck Cove.

Although the grants obtained inPoint May provide only tern­porary ...vork for a small numberof people, each of the programshas been put to good use in theconununity. Work has includedupgrading the communitypasture and the baseball dia­mood, cleaning up the cemetery,completing the first phase ofbuilding a wading pool beside thePoint May Brook, and repairs tothe community hall through aNew Horizons grant sponsored bythe senior citizens ' club.

' 'The Fishermen's Committeealso sponsored a grant to movethe wharf," adds Piercey. "Thebeach down in our cove is whatwe call a 'live' beach because theground under it is not solid. Ev­ery time we have a storm thebeach can change by as much as100 feet and the slipway, wharfand boats were constantly beingdamaged. The fishermen got agrant of $80,000to move the com­munity wharf to Pie Duck Coveabout three or four miles up thecoast. There's about 15 doriesfishing out of there - no Ion­gliners."

The people of Point May haverecently added their own firebrigade to the list of communityservices. They are affiliated withthe brigade in Lamaline andtogether are responsible forLord 's Cove, Point au Gaul,Lamaline and Point May.

"We have one truck and theyhave two in Lamaline," says Pier­cey. " It took us a year-and-a-haUto raise the money - we had toput up 25 per cent of the total$38,000 required to buy the truckand equipment. The provincialgovernment put up the other 75per cent. Wehave two pumps andequipment for 10 men at a time.There's a total of 17 volunteershere and 18 in Lamaline,"

Piercey says the fire brigadewas a necessity because some of

DECKS AWASH - 55

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"I left twice but this time I'mstaying put," says Piercey. "Wejust need one of these industriesto turn around and that will be thebeginning of an economic boomon the Burin Peninsula. I don't in­tend to miss out and neither doesanybody else in the area." 11

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see how it's done and we're hop­ing to convince the government toburn our peat at the new hospital.That would really help give us agood start and we would be ableto provide a few permanent andsome seasonal jobs right here inthe community."

There is great optimism in thearea because of this type of paten-

the homes in Point May are 75 - I~---------------------""100 years old and built closetogether. There is a flash of chim­ney fires each year when peoplefirst start burning woodin the faUand early winter.

With all this activity it is obvi­ous that the people of Point Mayhave no intention of Jetting theircommunity die. Piercey says it isjust a matter of time before thereis an economic turnaround in thearea.

"And then watch out," he says.'''I11eBurin Peninsula has one ofthe greatest opportunities for ec0­nomic prosperity in the entireprovince as far as I'm concerned.In what we call the Loop fromMarystown to Grand Bank /For­tune, we have industry just wait­ing to boom. There are all kindsof jobs on the draggers and in thefish plants when the fishery final-ly gets straightened out. The IL ---l

Marystown shipyard and thepotential for development of anoffshore supply base at SpanishRoom has good job prospects.They are also going to build a newhospita l at Burin.

"Here in Point May we are look­ing into development of a com­mercia l peat moss industry forhea ting fuel. Wehave been to seethe pea t project at SI. Shotts to

Just knittin' away

"I got up this morning at 7:30and sta rted knitting these

socks right after breakfast," saysSharon Stacey, 28, to the beat ofthe clickety-click-click of herknitting needles as she preparesto turn theheeJ of a sock. "I don'tknow how to knit by a pattern. Ilea rn ed how to do this fromMother who lea rned from hermother before her. I don't sayany of us knew how to follow apattern. But it's simple enoughonce you know how. You mightforget how to turn your heel ifyou've been away from it for along time. But all it takes is forMother to start me again andthen I go on myself."

Sharon is using wool from the

family's sheep. The carding andspinning are done in Prince Ed­ward Island. The finishing of 34pounds of wool costs about $80and it takes about a half poundfor a pair of socks.

"Last Christmas I knit everyone of the boys from the oldestdown to the youngest a pair ofsocks . The baby was only a yearold so he got a tiny little pair. Iknit them socks and Mother knitsthem gloves . And with six boys inthe family, that 's a lot ofknitting. "

Slaron estimates she could knittwo pairs of socksa day if she puther mind to it. She says she findsknitting relaxing and it reallyhelps pass the time . She usually

Sharon Stacey 811.p(ains hOw to 'turn theheel ' of the sock she is knitting.

56 - DECKS AWASH

"My grandmother could knit apair ever y morning ," she says ."Tell you what," she adds to ourreporter as an afterthought." You give me your address andI'll knit you a pair and send themto you just in time for winter ."

Sharon, it's a deal! II

Sharon enjoys knitting socksbut would also like to learn howto make gloves and sweatersfrom her mother . But then again,it 's just possible that knittingsocks is in her blood.

a store."You have to pay $6 or $7 for

those socks you buy in the shopsand they wear out so fast , it's justnot worth it," says Sharon. " Andif I were to knit these to sell, peo­ple would object to paying $5 apair . They don't realize the costof the wooland your time . But ifyou had a ice bingo over at thechurch hall and put up home-knitsocks and a few other prizes , myson, they'd go cracked over thesocks. That's the first thing thatwould go, I guarantee you."

Mak ing fast moneyI

does the ribbing around the top inblue, red or gree n - dependingon what color her mother haschosen to die the wool.

"You have to wash it when youget it back," explains Sharon. " Itshrinks, because it's pure wooland hasn't been prewas hed likethe stuff you buy in the stor e,Then you knit your socks a bit too

I ~~~~~~~~~:'~: :~:~:and they will shrink some more."

I

Sharon says she wouldn 'tdream of buying woollen socks In

" H e spent 17 hours on theIto Boston,' says MadelineStacey,bottom of a boat in 69,of her husband J oseph, 74,of

February month with another fel- Point May.low hung onto his boot when they " Tha t' s r ight ," confirmswere rumrunning from St. Pierre Joseph matter-of-Iactly. "We had

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ercise."When he was 17, Joseph was

caught by the American authori­ties. That was the first of threetimes.

"Nothing ever happened to usthough, " he says . " I spent 17daysin jail in the States once , but thecompany had lawyers hired to doaU the talking for you and youjust got sent home to do it all overagain.

"That first time we still hadhalf a load of liquor on board andthey towed us into Boston. Therewas no court set up for layingcharges then. They took our boatand the liquor and sent us home.The owners bought a new boatand we went right back at it."

But it wasn't only the rumrun­ners who experienced the excite­ment of the times . Madelineremembers many incidents withthe trade right in Point May.

"When they were rumrunning ,come a big storm and you weresure to see a ship come in thatcove," she explains . 'When I wasa young girl still in school a shipcalled the Berevielle cameashore. She was carrying halfgenera] cargo, and half liquorfrom France to St. Pierre. Comea gail wind here along the landand blew all her sails away. Shewas blown ashore and wrecked.My father had two barns - onebig enoogh to keep 15 head 01cat -

bottom up in rough seas and Iclimbed on top of her and put myarm through the plug trap ropeand the mate grabbed hold to myboot. And then there was nothingto00but wait till someone saw us.Wedidn 't die but we come paddykeefe to it."

J oseph and his mate weretaken ashore at Three FathomHarbour and treated for frostbiteby a local doctor . As lor the boat ,Joseph says the insurance corn­pany declared her a wreck . Shewas put on auction and the manwho bought her refloated her andfound her to be seaworthy.

" I had been at it a few years bythat time," he continues. "Myfathe r was a ship 's carpenter andhe went to 51. Pierre to work onthe docks. He lound it pretty goodso he came back to Point Mayand carried us over there. I was13 the n and went to school firstwhen I got there. But by the limeI was 14 I had my first job as asea man on a ship in the rumrun­ning . I was at it for 16 years IJe..fore I gave it up and came backhere. The ships were all owned bybig shots in the States and gang­st ers like Legs Diamond. I didn'twork for him but I was at it whenhe was over in St. Pierre. Theyshot him coming out of a drug­stor e in New York City ... put 58machin e-gun bullets into him. Iwas still in St. Pier re at the timeand tha t' s how I heard about it. "

Joseph says when he first start­ed they used the big two-andthree -masted bankers for therumrunning trade. But around1926 when the business really be­ga n in earnest, the bankers werereplaced with modern powerboats which could carry 3,000cases of liquor.

"And on the American coastwe'd have 6O-100t speed-boatswith five red-wing airplane en­gines in them to take the liquor tosho re. And don 't think theycouldn't go. We'd meet 011thecoast in the nighttime and you'dgo with no lights on. But afterawhile the authorities got just assmart as you were . They builtboats like ours so they could turnfaster and pick you up in asearchlight and all this type 01ex-

Joseph Stacey

tie. They took out the ca tt le andshifted them to the small stable.The big one was packed full fromtop to bottom with liquor . Therewere two big stores down onBowring 's Beach and they werepacked full and there must havebeen 50 puncheons of winebesides."

Madeline remembers a Consta­ble Lee came from Grand Bankto guard the shipment while theywaited for the men to come fromSt. Pierre and take the liquoraway .

"In those days people here usedto take cattle and sheep over toSt. Pierre in their dories ," saysMadeline . " And they 'd get theirliquor while they were there ­just shove oCf and get their drop.But that wreck was just beforeChristmas and there wasn't any­body who had to go to St. Pierreto get their drop that year.

But both Madeline and Josephhave long since settled into a lessexciting way of life in Point May.Still they look hack on the days 01rumrunning with fondness and acertain amount of amazement.

"You know I made $1!KX> in ninedays one time when I was rum­running ." remembers Joseph." And that was some lot of moneyin those days ."

"Yes ," agrees Madeline. teas­ing him . "They made it fast andspent it just as fast. " l!I

58 _ DECKS AWASH

The place to stay

Rita Giovannini, who manages the K'KarenMotel in 81.Lawrence, is carrying on the Giovan­nini business tradition star ted by the Giovanninibroth ers who came to St . Lawrence over 100yearsago. Rita adm its to being f10 but looks younger. Amother of ten , she thrives on hard work. In addi-

tion to cooking for her guests (an enemy describedher as a terrific cook - praise indeed) she also '1supervises the lounge behing the motel. Also, witha minimum of notice she 'll cook whatever youwant and the fish is fresh caught, too. The modernrooms are warm and built out over the harbor af­fording a magnificent view. For friendly care andattention the K·Karen is unsurpassed, and you willenjoy talking to Rita. We did . ~

St . lawreN':e

DECKS AWASH 59

editorial

The history of the "boot" of the Burin Peninsulahas been one of feast and famine. Mining, the

fishery, and even rumrunning from nearby St.Pierre have all contributed to the local economyat some time and then diminished or disappeared.Fate seems to have dealt some unkind blows tothe local people. Today . at first glance, the visi­tor might wonder just how people make a liveli­hood in this area.

With some difficulty. is probably the most ac­curate answer. Yet. make a living they do. Thesame perseverance that Jed the people of St.Lawrence and Lawn to create a mining industrywithout pay in 1933,is still evident. The dogged de­termination of these people to remain in their com­munities, and explore every economic possibilityis revealing. Few appear to have time to bemoanthe loss of better times, if indeed they were , fewappear nostalgic about the "good old days".

Instead, the residents are optimistic, outgoingand looking at other development possibilities.They appreciate their location with its variedcoastline, from the roiling hills of St. Lawrence tothe flat plains of Lamaline and Point May. Theyare far enough away from urban areas tohave fewof the problems of cities, yet near enough to availof the advantages when they so choose. They be­lieve the problems with the fishery will eventual­ly be sorted out to the benefit of the entire BurinPeninsula. A new hospital is planned for Burin,work has started on a new mining venture at St.Lawrence, and Spanish Room to the north hasbeen identified as a potential offshore oil and gasbase.

While many of thse activities are large-scaleand in the future, people now are also trying to getother smaller projects off the ground. Some havealready set themselves up in small business ven­tures, others are experimenting with the develop­ment of peat moss as a heating fuel and kelp asan economical fertilizer:

Everyone seems to want to stay in the area andbea part of the future development. They are de­termined not to miss out. Many have gone else-

An ideal Christmas gift!

Bound copies • of DECKSAW<\SH contain­ing the 1984 issues of the magazine will beavailable shortly for $1S.oo.lf)'Ouwould liketo buy a copy, please fill in the form below,enclose a cheque or money order payableto Memorial University and send to:

Decks AwashExtension Service

Memorial Universityof Newfoundland

St. John's, NF. A1C 5N7NAME _

ADDRESS _

_ _ _ _ POSTAL CODE _

AMOUNT ENCLOSEO $,-,-,- _• limited number available

A notification of your gift will Ibe sentrecipients.

where in search of work but have returned to risktheir future in their hometown. They believe theadvantages outweigh the disadvantages. Theyrecognize the road won't be easy, that manydifficulties face them, but at the same time theyare confident the problems are not insur­mountable.

A visit to this sole of the "boot" of the BurinPeninsula shows the indomitable Newfoundlandspirit is alive and well. The people reveal a senseof optimism tempered by realism. We say, goodluck, you have a lot going for you. I!

1 moose heart1 onion, chopped1'2 tsp. salt2 tbs. butter, meltedI,'zcup bread crumbs1~ tbs. poultry seasoningl~ tbs. savoryL. tsp. pepper

Baked stuffed moose heart

Wash heart andsoakovemight insalted water . Re­move large veins inside heart. Make dressing andstuff cavity. Sew up heart or skewer. Place in roasterand lay strips of salt pork over top. Add 1 cup waterto pan. Cover and bake at 325' for 3 hours, or untiltender . Baste occasionally during cooking. SeM'e5 6.

&0 _ DECKS AWASH

Fortune832-1910

IMPGROUPLIMITED

Moose Soup2 Ibs. moose meat1 cup cubed sparerib or salt meat~4 cup rice1 onion diced2 to 21,2 quarts water1 cup canned tomatoes1 tsp. salt1 cup sliced carrots1 cup chopped celery

Soak salt meat or sparerib forseveral hours. Drain on water. Ina large saucepan combine water,meal and onion.Bring to a boil andsimmer until tende r. Removebones. if any. Adddiced vegetablesand rice. Boil 20 minutes or untiltender:Addcanned tomatoes. Healand serve.

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~ta5onl) ~rttting5

featuresHome gardeningBy: Ross Traverse

Q: I have a Christmas Cactus which does notflower at Christmas. but sometimes [lowerslater in the winter. How can I get it to blossomat Christmastime?

A: 10 encourage the Christmas Cactus to flower;it should be placed in a cool place in July andAugust. Water and foodshould be withheld atthat time. The leaves Conned in early summerwill harden orr and buds will be formed. Inseptember provide a temperature of around15'C and water very sparingly. As the buds de­velop. gradually increase water. When theplant is flcwering. it should not be moved un­til all the blossoms have dropped.Some people place the Christmas Cactusplants in the pot outside during the summer.When the cool weather sets in during the rail,the plant will naturally set Hewer buds. Makesure it is taken inside before there is a frost.

Q: Every year we cut a Balsam Fir for a Christ­mas tree. Is it possible to grow a Christmastree and use it year after year?

A: Yes, it is possible, in fact, in some places liveChristmas trees in pots are sold. You can geta young Balsam Fir tree potted up into a con­tainer, i.e., a to-gallon tub. The tree should begrown outside for a few years and when it isabout four feet tall you should start to pruneit. Youremove the outside tips of the branchesin the spring. This will cause the tree tobranch and become very bushy. It may takeseven or eight years to get a a-rt. tree. This treemay be left outside and then just brought inat Christmastime. Of course it is importantthat it should never dry out. One advantage ofa natural live tree is that it won't lose its nee­dles Jike one that is cut. As soon as Christmasis over you should take the tree out and let itget adjusted to the outside temperaturesagain.

DECKS AWASH - 61

Q: Some of my neighbors wrap their evergreentrees in plastic to protect them. Is this a goodidea?

A: No, definitely not. Plastic should not be usedto protect outside plants during the winter.When the sun shines on plastic, even duringthe winter, it would get too warm inside andcause the pJant to break dormancy. This me­ans that the buds may open and then with se­vere frost, could damage the tree or shrub. Ifyou feel it is necessary to wrap a tree or shrub,then burlap is the best material to use. Youshould always use some material that isporous that will allow the air to circulate. Myidea with outside plants is just to protect themfrom damage by snow. A properly pruned andhealthy tree usually won't need any protectionother than support when it is very small.

Q: How should I care for my Poinsettia afterChristmas in order to keep it as long aspossible?

A: An important point to remember about Poin­settias is that they need a constant supply ofmoisture. Never let them dry out. Also becareful, however, that you don't everwaterthem for this can cause damage. If you keepyour Poinsettia plant in a cool part of thehouse away from heaters, then it will maintainits color much longer. Poinsettias can be keptgrowing and forced into color for next year.This is done by keeping the plant under short­day conditions during September (with a-hourspan of light). Then the plant wilJdevelop thered color in its top leaves. It should be fedregularly a diluted solution of 20-20-20 everytwo weeks.

Q: How should I protect my rock garden plantsduring the winter?

A: Evergreen boughs several layers thick is prob­ably one of the best methods of protection forperennial rock garden plants. Youhave to becareful that the rock garden is in a locationso that the water drains away. Any ice thatforms will kill the plants. The boughs shouldnot be placed on the bedof the rock gardenuntil the ground is frozen. This would proba­bly be in late November. The boughs shouldbe removed as soon as the ground starts tothaw in the spring. .,

62 - DECKS AWAS H

Audubon Christmas Bi r d Count

T his year marks the 85th Christmas Bird Countin Atlantic Canada and plans are underway

to hold as many as ten counts here in Newfound­land. The first count is expected to be undertakenon December 15,with the final count taking placeon December 31. Counts will take place through­out the island part of the province with a new countset for the Codroy Valley in western New­foundland .

The aim is to count all the birds in the ts-muediameter count circle so as to have an idea of thewintering population . Changes over the years canthen be studied to assist in wildlife protection andhabitat management. The mast important benefit,however, is to offer participants a most enjoya­ble day in the outdoors. Counts in urban areas alsoinclude " feeder " birds, so those who have to stayat borne on count day can also contribute. Mostof the counts also feature an evening get-togetherto enjoy a warm snack and perhaps tell storiesabout the birds that were missed.

Anyone interested in birds is invited to take partin these counts. The only requirements are accessto transportation to and from the count a rea, awillingness to endure whatever weather condi­tions are encountered and a little experience inbird identification. Efforts are made to match no­vices with count veterans and eac h count has acompiler who allocates coverage and tallies upnumbers for late publication in American Birds.

The wreck of the Evelyn

I n the winter of 1913,the schooner Evelyn, underCaptain Burke, was en route from Pernambuco,

Brazil to S1. John's, Newfoundland. On 20 December1912,the weather deteriorated and by the morning ofSaturday, January 4, the wind reached hurricaneforce .

At 4 p.m ., January 6, Cape Pine was sighted only tobe quickly obliterated in a blinding snowstorm. Cap­tain Burke headed to sea but the ship received a fearfulbashing ..... ith waves frequently breaking on board. Notuntil 5:30 p.m . the next day was Cape Pine safelypassed

The wind increased with sea spray freezing on deckuntil hull and rigging were under several inches of ice.Il became impossible to handle the running gear andwith decks constantly awash the crew were in risk oftheir lives . Tuesday night was miserable and anxiousfor all on board .

Wednesday found. the ship north of Bay Bulls aboutfour miles off shore . In desperation the houseflag wasraised in the hope that Bay Bulls or Cape Spear migh'send out a tug, but to DO avail. At 7 p.m . a snowstorm

The cost of publication is met by a nominal feefrom each participant.

Tentative dates and contracts are listed below:Cape Race, Dec . 22; Cape St. Mary's, Dec. t5;

St. John 's , Dec. 26: John Wells, MUN Departmentof Psychology, St. Jo hn's, NF AlB 3X9, 737-7668.

Codroy Valley, Dec. 22; Gros Morne, Dec. 28;St. Paul's, Dec. 29: Blake Maylark, Gras MorneNational Park, Rocky Hr., NF AOK 4NO,458-2417.

Corner Brook, Dec . rl: Alan Burger, 73 CentralSt. , Corner Brook, NF , A2H 2M7, 634-1439.

Terra Nova , Dec. 17: Roger Burrows, 21Bellas!St., St. John's, NF, AlB 2G5, 753-8862 or HankDeichman, Terra Nova, NF via Glovertown, NFAOG2LO,533-2801.

L'Anse-aux-Meadows, Dec. 31; St. Anthony,Dec . 30: Bruce MacTanish, ApI. 311, 20 SI. Laur­ent St., SI. John's, NF 737-7668. "'

began as the barometer plummeted.By midnight the lights of the coast were obscured

with a gale from the southeast driving the Evelyntowards land. To save his vessel, Captain Burke head­ed south on double reefed mainsail, foresail , and jib.By 6 a.m . Thursday, all were tom to ribbons. With vir­tually no canvas the ship was completely at the mercyof the elements .

By extreme effort the ship was hove to and allowed towallow in the troughs of the sea, but still waves sweptall moveable objects from her decks. Heavy wtth wetice and snow the ship was quite out of hand. Then at 9a.m. a steamer was sighted. Distress signals werehoisted .

The steamer proved to be the Bellavenfure underCaptain Cross who gallantly offered to send out a smallrescue boat, but Captain Burke reluctantly declinedbecause no small boat could survive in such waters.1be Bellaventure lett for 81. John's.

The snow cleared and the ship continued until CapeBroyle .....as sighted. Being under bare poles there wasno way to weather the Cape so the ship was ron into

Caplin Bay. The Evelyn was swept stem first ontothe Isle au Bois. Fortunately she stranded at low tide ona narrow strip of beach, but it seemed the crew's doomhad merely been postponed. The cliffs ahead wereunscalable while the sea was too rough to launch asmall boat. When the tide rose in a few hours it wouldinevitably destroy ship and crew, but nobody hadreckoned on the brave fishermen of Ferryland.

Witnessing the Evelyn's plight. nine fishermen,John. William and H.J. Bamable, Michael and JohnDevereaux, William Furlong, James Walsh, HowardMorey and Michael White had set off in a skiff for theisland. They were almost drowned when a big sea filledthe small boat and holed her, but pulling for their livesthe)' reached the south of the island. In their soakingclol.hes they tramped across the island to the cliff tops.lowered ropes down to the crew of the Evelyn, andhauled them to safety. They then hurried the half­famished and frozen seamen to their homes.

Captain Burke. who lost all his possessions in the.....-reck, declared he could never forget the treatment hereceived at the fishermen's hands. He added, if any ofhis things were ever recovered they should go to thefishermen. 11

Creating an awareness

DECKS AWASH - 63

The ship was a total loss and broke up soon after.~ ad:now/edp W ~rdJ 01C.pUin JOMpb Prim for this IIrtidr

R ay Hawco is in his office on a bright. crispMonday morning where he greets us prompt­

ly at 9.

"It's important that people understand what thePetroleum Directorate is and what its functionsare." declares Ray, who, since 1980has workedwith the Petroleum Directorate in the Communi­ty Relations Section, In fact. an indication of theprovincial government's commitment to publicparticipation has been the increase of the Commu­nity Relations staff from one to four members thisfall.

"Simply put, the Directorate was established inNovember 1979as a provincia) government agen­cy reporting to the Minister responsible for ener­gy, now Mr. Bill Marshall. Our generalresponsiblities are to administer the Newfound­land and Labrador Petroleum and Natural GasAct, to act as the initial contact with the oil indus­try and relevant agencies. and to provide provin­cial expertise on oil and gas matters. We havesome 80people including 50professional people innine different divisions.

"People have to understand what is happeningwith regard to oil and gas and how events will af­feet them." continues Ray. "and the governmentmust also have credible information to back upwhat they are saying.

"We have the expertise here. Our staff com­prises some of the best people available. For ex­ample, our chief geologist, Martin Sheppard. hasextensive oil and gas experience in western Cana­da; Wayne Chipman. who has worked with a num­ber of petroleum companies, is one of the mostknowledgeable people on the Hibernia reservoir;

64 _ DECKS AWASH

and our published research has gained a nationaland international reputation.

For a moment, Ray, who grew up in HarbourMain, Conception Bay, reflects on the last 20yearsin the province.

"Up until the '60s most communities had a so­ciety that was controlled either by the clergy, themerchant, or the teacher. The men were out fish­ing, in the woods, or mining. Families were toobusy keeping body and soul together to have muchtime for anything else.

"But with universal education and radio andTV, people became more aware. They had time.But you've got to remember that weas Newfound­landers have not been accustomed to having any­thing to say about what goes on. DuringCommission of Government days everything wasout of our hands. And we have tended to be skep­tical of the effectiveness of anything we might beable to do. We have the attitude that no matterhow much say we have, it's not likely to have anyeffect anyway.

"But that simply isn't so. People can decide forthemselves and these decisions can work both forthe community and the developers."

Ray has talked to various groups on the WestCoast about the potential onshore drilling on theNorthern Peninsula because the provincialgovernment was aware that some oil drilling com­panies were interested in the onshore potential ofthe region.

"Both the Parson's Pond and the Bay St.George-Stephenville areas formed committees tolook into the potential for onshore drilling. TheParson's Pond area committee had over 35 com­munity organizations involved."

Ray suggests we talk to George Payne, chair-

Georglt Payne

Ray HllWCO

man of the Oil and Gas Steering Committee of theParson's Pond area because this is an example oftrue community involvement.

When contacted, George Payne talks en­thusiasticaUy about their activities.

"I've been interested in the onshore potentialever since 1966when I was involved with the Par­son's Pond Community Council," says George. "Ithink I must have talked to every energy ministersince that time.

"Leo Barry, the former energy minister, wasvery helpful and I went to Ottawa to find out whatthe federal government could do. We formed acommittee and asked the Petroleum Directorateto provide guidelines."

Overall, George is pleased withthe input of thecommittee but is understandably disappointedthat the companies decided not to explore thearea. Interested in providing employment in thewest coast area, George is President of Parson'sPond Seafoods.

"Amos Payne, Fraser Keough and I look afterthe fish plant where we process all types of fish.We employ about 60 people directly in the plant,but if you consider all those involved includingtruck drivers,loaders, and fishermen, I'd say weprovide income for over 100. We've had a fair yearbut with prices so low, it's not been easy.

"We need employment on the West Coast. Iguess you could say we need employment all overNewfoundland. I just heard on the radio that80-90% of our West Coast young people are unem­ployed. If we could get something going with theonshore oil it would be a real boost to the economy.

"I've been talking to energy minister Bill Mar-

shall who, though he didn't promise anything, saidthat he would bring up the matter or onshore drill­ing with the new federal energy minister PatCarney.

" We need an incentive program similar to theoffshore, then perhaps we can attract companieshere. Understandably, our government has beenconcerned with getting an agreement on the off ­shore, but I think now the onshore needs attention.We have beenworking over the last 18 months . Wepresented a br-ief to government and we are go-

A fishing trip in 1908

By : William Cha fe

JUr. William Chafe, born February 6, 1891 at Conceptionllarbour, Conception Bay, ...·ork rd in St . John's , Bishop sFalls. Grand Falls and Corner Brook with the railwayin "'Mt-(~ndland (or 50years. On his mirrment in 196Z.be and his ...·i(e movt.'d wGander. JUr.Chafe's present in­te~ts ind ude "ading, ...·rUing, listening '0 music and...·. 'c hing n~

A II of the publicity surround­ing the fishery brings to mind an experience

I had during the summer or 1908when I was aschool boy in St. Mary 's, St. Mary's Bay,

Steve Gibbons, a merchant and fisherman. hadbeen promising the late Aiden Hogan, a schoolchum of mine, and me that he would take us outto his codtrap sometime.

Aiden was intent on joining them. Oneevening,I saw from a distance that Aiden had boarded theboat with Steve and his crew. I raced with all thespeed I possessed to join them, I reached the stagehead just as the trap skiff was moving off. Stevepushed an oar towards me to haul the boat backCor me to get aboard.

It was a lovely warm evening and we enjoyedwatching the men using the oars to pull the boata long - engines were a scarce commodity in fish­ing boats at that time.

DECKS AWASH - 65

ing to continue to try to get something going," con­cludes George.

Ray continues , "The communities themselvesdeveloped an awareness oC possible development.They are aware that such development can meandollars to everybody, They shouldnowhe well pre­pared for future developments. We at the Petrole­um Directora te ar e here to help , together withsuch organizations as municipal councils , ruraldevel opment assoc ia tions, MUN Extension, serv­ice clubs and church groups ." II

Wil iam Chare

The trap was set about four miles Crom S1.Mary' s harbo r close to a place called 'Th e Gulch"near the Point La Haye lighthouse. About a half­mile from the trap we noticed a terrific distur­bance on lhe surface of the ocean ahead of us. Itwas like the water was boiling and throwing sever­al spouts into the air. As wecame nearer, the waterappeared Quiteblack. We soon discovered this \\'3S

becaus e of the immense bed or caplin surround­ing our boat. When the men dipped their oars torow the boat, the caplin were so thick the oarskilled a couple oC dozen of them with each stroke.Lookingahead we could see whales diving and ris­ing amongst this boiling water. As we drew evencloser we could see numerous codfish kicking upa fuss.

"We'll pull into this little cove and wait for thetrap to fill up," Steve told his men. After just a fewminutes , he said , "It's as full now as it ever willbe and we'll haul right away."

66 - DECKS AWASH

There wasn't much hauling to do as the trap wasso full there wasn 't much twine to pull in. Therewas a haJf-dozen or more small boats in the vicin­ity which I heard the men refer to as "bumbers".Steve signalled them all to his trap and filled theirboats with fish. Then he proceeded to fill three2O-qUintal bags with the remainder of the fish fromthe trap. The bagswere made of twine and the fishwas transferred to them from the trap by lacingone to the other. I had a problem with the traptwine hooking into my boots . I don't see any of thattype of boots or shoes nowadays.

By the tim e all the fish was bagged, the sbadesof night were falling and the start towards homewas made with the three 2O-quintal bags in tow.The wind came up from the direction in which wewere headed which slowed oor progressto a snail'space. By midnight we managed to get back to Gib­bons ' stage head at the beach in St. Mary 's har­bor. Fortunately, someone had seen us taking offon the fishing trip ; otherwise, our parents wouldhave been very much concerned over their twomissing boys.

10return for such an exciting evening , Aiden andI volunteered to assist at slowing away the fish .All concerned went home for a few hours' rest be­fore starting the operation.

When I arrived home my good mother had a pip­ing hot meal for me which I thoroughly enjoyed .One can imagine what an appetite I had after be­ing so long without eating - Steve and his mendidn't anticipate such a large haul and expectedto be home in just a few hours so they had verylittle food with them, and in any case, with all thefish they hadn 't had lime to eat anything.

My mother agreed for me to assist at the fish

but insisted I sleep for a few hours first.It was almost noon when I woke and you can im­

agine how red my face was when I appeared at thefish stage and found the others had been there afew hours before me.f had to take quite a ribbingfor being such a sleepyhead.

It was late afternoon when all the fish was split,salted, etc , Steve and his crew starred oll again foranother haul but neither Aiden nor I volunteeredfor another trip.

This was my only experience at the fishing ex­cept for a trip with my relatives - the Daltons ofCape Broyle - to their trap a couple of years later.Our catch on this occasion was only a few quin­tals and our boat was equipped with a motor en­gine, only recently installed. This was the firstmotor engine to come to cape Broyle and. waspresent in the room when my grandfather JohnDalton closed the deal to purchase it from thesalesman. Each year thereafter the fishermen ofCape Broyle equipped their boatswith engines un­til every fisherman in the place possessed one.

This first engine was installed by a man sentfrom the company that sold it. His assistant wasmy late cousin John Dalton, Jr., who learned howto install engines from this man. John installed 22engines for the fishermen of Cape Broyle after thatwithout any charge which must be classed as areal community effort.

I've yet tocatch a codfish by my own efforts ex­cept to catch connors and flatfish from a stage­head in boyhood days, In latter years an odd mealof trout has been the extent of my fishing, althoughmy Cape Sroyle relatives taught me how to cutthroats, gut, head, split, salt, washout and dry codon flakes. I!I

Aunt's Soph's WPA meeting

By Eric Young

,T was about this time last year that we hadthe big fuss at the house . Here's what

happened.The War was only a few months old when

Grandmother was elected president of the Wom­en 's Patriotic Association, or WPA, as they calledit. The first meeting was at our house , and. wasdoing my homework in the kitchen when the worn­en piJed in, took off their coats and went in thefront room . Gran gave out wool and needles whichwere soon clicking away, starting up mitts andsocks for the men going overseas.

Since it was the first meeting, and almostChristmas. Grandmother thought she would do itup proper, so she came out to the pantry andpoured off a big glass pitcher of Grandfather'sblueberry wine, and with a tray of glasses went

back in the front room.Soon I began to hear giggles and laughs com­

ing from the women and the clicking of the nee­dles had stopped. They were really gelling loudwhen Grandfather comes in the back door, takesoff his coat and cap and starts to fill his pipe, whenhe stops short.

"Ed, what 's that racket going on in the frontroom? Sounds more like a randy than a meeting."

"I don 't know, Grandfather," I says. " Theywere all knitting away until after Gran broughtin a jug of your blueberry wine , and that's the way' tis been goin' ever since."

Well, Grandlather almost burnt his fingers withhis lit match, and his eyes opened wide.

" Did you say blueberry wine? What the devil isSoph doing, doling out my blueberry wine three

DECKS AWASH - 67

weeks before Christmas? " With that he makes afew steps towards the front room, thought betterof it , grabbed his coat and cap and went out theback door.

This appeared a good time for me to go to bed.So I got something to eat, and with flashlight andcomic book lookoff upstairs. The racket was stillgoing on downstairs, but I must have dozed off,as I woke up when Grandfa ther came in andslammed the back door. I had to hear what wenton.

"Job Pickett," Gran shouts, "what did you putin that blueberry wine? The women are all gonehome half drunk, and Parson J ones ' wife is theworst as she had almost three glasses. I'll neverlive this down. Nowwhat have you got to say'! "

Grandfather answered , "Soph, it serves youright for doling out our Christmas wine. But you

mind last month when that tra velling salesmansta yed here ? Well, when he was going I helpedhim to his cabin he gave me a bottle of black St.Pierre rum . NowJake Flemming is always brag­ging about making the strongest blueberry winein the harbor , so I thought I'd fix him this year ,and I poured the whole bottle in the wine.. Goodthing you don't like the stuff, else I'd have to leavehome,"

Like Grandmother said , the WPA spree at thehouse was the talk of the harbor for three weeks,and only died down then 'cause it was Christmas.Jake Flemming didn't make the strongest winelast year . I!IIn the Sept ember-October iss ue we t'I"l'QlleOU&Iy reported thai Eric Youngserved in the Royal Navyduring the Second World Wa r. In fact , Mr . YOWliloeI"\'ed In the Royal Canadi a n Navy . We apolClllizefor the t'fTOI'

Please send me 0 cap lesat only

14 Delightful Columns in a new, 58·PageBook. Large·s lze type for easy reading.

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(fA Year With Jonathan Miles"

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68 - DECKS AWASH

BudapestB)' Clifford Grinling

T his summer- our vecetioning reportertrevelled to Budapest, llungsry, and beceuse

it's not on the usual itinersry of most treveiiersfrom "'e"foundland, we think reeders might lindit interesting.

Budapest is just two hours from London by Rus­sian TU-l54B jet of the Hungarian State Airline ,MALEV. In-flight food is pork , salami, ham , ched ­dar and goat cheese . A basket of crusty bread rollsis passed around and the wine supply is liberal.

There's little indication that Hungary is behindthe Iron Curtain . True , an armed soldier guardsthe plane as we alight, but he is ignored by an oldwoman on an over-sized , ancient black bicyclewho has pedalled from the terminal to sweep outthe plane .

The ride from the airport to Budapest in a Ladataxi is conducted at breakneck speed as the driverdemonstrates his warrior horseman ancestry. Themain highway is narrow by North American stan­dards, the traffic light, the vehicles small . It 's asif one has been transported back 20 years. Eventhe prices are yesterday's. The half-hour taxi rideto the hotel costs about six dollars.

Budapest is old, majestic, and picturesque. Itcomprises the feudal town so Buda and Pest them­selves built upon ancient Roman settlements. TheHungarians, originally a race of horse warriorsfrom behind the Ural mountains, arrived here in896.Their warlike ways got them as far as Paris,but after some major military reversals theyreturned to Hungary and adopted the Slavic

The chain link bridge and beyond it , Pest.

methods of fanning, After being successively con­quered or occupied by Tartars, Turks, Austrians,Germans and Russians, Budapest has todayemerged as the capital of the Hungarian SocialistRepublic, one of the most prosperous and, towestern visitors, the most appealing of an the

Parliament buildings with River Danube in foreground.

po

communist countries .Hungary has a population of about 10million ~f

which over two million live in Budapest, the cap i­tal. Hungarians are warm, friendly people witha fondness for talk ,laughter, food ; hence they aregood hosts . The Hungarian language is like noother. Only the Finns have a language remotelysimilar and even they cannot understand Hungar­ian . Fortunately, many Hungarians speak eitherFrench, German, or English (or a little of ea~h ).

Budapest is divided by the hroad, grey RiverDanube (not blue, Strauss was wrong ) whichseparates Buda a nd Pest. The Royal Palace sitshigh on the hillside of the Buda but no m~narch

has reigned there since 1918. Nearby IS theRomanesque Coronation Churc h of 81. Matthias .Below the hillside , one may cross the Danube byone of eight bridg es to Pest , the commercia l sec­tion with its wide avenu es, vast squares, and pub­lie buildings. One might he in Paris. Indeed , it issaid that much of the city 's 19th century recon­struction was influenced by French ar chitecture.But as Hungarians are quick to point out , they gottheir Metro (subway) in 1896,Paris had to waituntil 1900.

'The city has two opera houses , 25theatres, morethan 20 museums, seven department stores, and250smaller shops . Some department stores moreclosely resemble the Arcade than Sears, andmanufactured goods are expensive. But restaur­ants are abundant, delightfuJ, and cheap. Forabout $5one can sample the local Hungarian dish­es heavily seasoned with peppers, and accompa­ny it with the local "bull 's blood" wine . Many ofthe larger restaurants employ troupes of musi ­cians who with only minor encouragement will as-

St . Matthias. coronation church of Hungarian monarchs.

Visitors tour a Hungarian Stale Farm by bullock cart.

semble Around your table and play gypsy violinmusic until you pay them to go away.

The food can prove too rich for some . One wom­an in our party complained of chest pains after anevening 's over -indulgence and was whisked awayto hospital by ambulance. Suspecting a heart at­tack, the doctors subjec ted her to a battery oftests. All proved negative, so with some sound ad­vice on the dangers of overeating in Hungary, shewas sent back to her hotel . The biB: a mere $35which included the ambulance ride .

Hotels in Budapest are similar to those in NorthAmerica - there is even a Hilton and a Hyatt ­and they charge U.S. prices. But there aresmaller, less expensive places to stay . Some hotelsare famous for their mineral baths being situat­ed over subterranean springs that send waterfrom 3000feet below ground level to emerge at 190F . Many of the pools are too hot to do anything butsit in. Afterwards masseurs are available to pum­mel your boiled body.

As a communist country, Hungary is interest­ing to observe. For a start, there is no unemploy­ment , not because the economy is so dynamic butbecause unemployment is iBegal. We were told," Go without work for more than three months andyou go to jail. " Jobs are created by government,they are low paid and sometimes lead to inefficien­cy, but the system serves the purpose. Well,almost. The monthly average wage in Hungary isabout $130, not a lot of money , even though state­owned apartments and food are relatively cheap.

To supplement incomes, a huge undergroundeconomy has sprung up. Initially the governmenttried to stop it hut when that failed they pragmat­ically decided tolegalize it and since 1982workershave been allowed to take a second job. Workersband together in teams and use their employer'sequipment to make products which they then sellto the firm . Naturally, they work after regularhours, but many spend the time resting on theirfirst job so that they may work on the second.

For a communist country it flirts with capital­ism . But Hunga ry has to earn roughly 50per cent

70 - DECKS AWASH

of its currency through foreign trade so exportsare vital. Seventy per cent of exports are agricul­tural, but there's an irony even in this. One par­ticular kind of grain is exported to Italy to makepasta, but this leaves Hungary short, so it importsgrain from Russia which, in turn, imports it fromCanada. Other exports are ships, power generat­ing equipment, pharmaceutical products, andcomputer software. The popular Rubik's cube wasinvented by Mr. Rubik in Hungary.

With six to eight million tourists visitingBudapest annually, tourism would appear to bea major generator of foreign currency, yet itseems to account for only four per cent of the grossnational income. More important to the local pe0­ple are tips from visitors . Where people earn 6000forints a month a tip of 50forints ($1U.S.) is con­siderable. Also, dollars command a high price onthe black market. Stand in one spot for more thanfive minutes in a tourist district and you will beinevitably asked if you have dollars to sell. Sincethe blackmarket rate is twice the official rate, thetemptation to buy is strong, but it's illegal, It's alsodifficult to change forints back to dollars when youleave.

Crime in Hungary is difficult to gauge but ap­pears less widespread than in most Western coun­tries. A guide at the Museum of Fine Artsapologized for the fact that criminals had takensix paintings a year ago. Such theft, apparently,was unusual. We later learned that in Italy thepolice are currently trying to trace over 100,000

Restored buildings In Ihe old secucn of Buda.

MlIleral baths at the Gellart Hotel. Budapest

art items stolen from galleries c..;j"j museums.Litter on streets is non-existent; walking across

town in the small hours a perfectly safe oecupa­tion. Speeding cars appear to pose a danger topedestrians but miraculously stop the instant yourfoot leaves the pavement. Apparently the statetakes a very serious view of hitting pedestrians.

Bureaucratic crime, we learned, was morecommon and ranged from minor bribery to whole.sale appropriation of state property. Grain trucksdetoured through friendly farmers' yards arriveat the state granary less than full. Private housessometimes are built, not only with state materl­als, but using an entire crew who reported in sickon their regular job.

One in four Hungarian families owns a car.There are a half-dozenmodels to choose from andmost are made in the USSR. The prices rangefrom $1500 to $2500 and it is necessary to deposithalf the price when ordering. Delivery is slow, onaverage it takes six years.

Hungary appears to be a strange blend of com­munism and capitalism and there are agreeableaspects to hath. Budapest, which was 70per centdestroyed in World War II, has been carefullyreconstructed to much of its pre-war elegance in­cluding many of the older small houses on theBuda side. Probably only a communist economywith an excess of cheap labour could afford suchindulgence. In a Western economy the area mightnow be littered with high-rise buildings. Admitted­ly the Hilton Hotel beside the Cathedral of 51.Mat­thias is an intruder, but it is built in the side of anold Jesuit College copying the facade of the origi­nal building. <It even contains a monks' towercomplete with casino, said to be the only one in theEastern bloc.)

To Hungarians trying to achieve a Western styleof living, the going is sometimes hard, and thewages low, but this is not readily apparent to thevisitor. To the tourist, Budapest is an enchantingcity with friendly, helpful people, good food, end­less things to see, and best of all, much of it en­joyable at yesterday's prices. I!I

-letters

DECKS AWASH - 71

ConservatiOn and Bureau canadien des economi esRenewable Energy Office d'eoerg ie at des energies renouvelables

ANNOUNCEMENT

13m enclosing a cheque torenew our subscription to

Deck s Awash.You have taken a step toward

dispelling in the minds 01our pe0­ple the idea that we have been liv­ing on the "forgotten coast ".

."'.Energy, Mines andResources Canada

Upon the arrival of each issue ofDecks Awash, I often wonderedmyself when you would getaround to doing our area. Well,yoo have done it and a very goodjob too.

As you staled in your editorial ,

Energie, Mines etAessou rces Canada

it is probably unfortunate thatyou visited us at a time when somany people were away on vaca­tion. Personally, I could have toldyou a lot about Ramea pertainingto its discovery bya captainHaI<­luyt on 31 May 1591, and infonnedyou about the first school andfirst teacher , Mr. AlexanderPitcher in 1865. Maybe at somefuture time you may lake advan­tage of this material.

Best of luck and keep up thegoodwork.

Samuel 8. Ftander, Principal81. Boniface Central High

Ramea. 1;Y

The Government of Canada has announced the fol­lowing changes to the Canadian Home InsulationProgram (CHIP); and the Canada Oil SubstitutionProgram (CaSP)

CHIP CHIP will terminate on March 31, 1986. All In­sulation or draftproofing work must be com­pleted on or before that date.

After December 31, 1984, CHIP's contributionto eligible costs will be reduced to one-thirdfrom 60% . The maximum grant is unchangedat $500.00.

To be eligible for a contributio n of 60% the ap­plicant must be registered with CHIP on or be­fore December 31,1984, and the applicationform must be postmarked and work comp let­ed on or before March 31, 1985.

cosp c asp will terminate on March 31,1985.

casp applications will be forwarded to appli­cants until May 31, 1985. However, all workmust have been completed previous to the ter­mination of the program on March 31, 1985.

Canada

I r ea d with interest the historyof Burgee appearing in your

September-October 1984 issue.Having been close to the scene,

I consider you have done a greatdisservice to the good people ofBurgeo in not giving a completepicture when telling the history oflabor relations there.

In 1955, the Burgeo workersstarted the process of trying tosecure the benefits tha t a unionshould enable them to have. Theywere met by vehement oppositionfrom Spencer Lake, perfidy fromthe politicians of the day, andfour years later gave up the idea .

During those four years theyhad two sets of negotiations andthe reports of two separation con­ciliation boards. Nothing wasachieved. At that time they werenot prepared to take the actiondeemed necessary in 1971, asdescribed in your recent issue ofDecks Awash.

When one knows the completehistory of labor relations at Bur­goo, it is difficult to visualize any­thing which can take the place ofstrike action, as well as politicalawareness, by workers whenfaced with such an impossible stt­uation.

Cyril W. Stroog81. John's, .;Y

72 - DECKS AWASH

E nclosed you will find myrenewal cheque .

I find it very . very interestingand would not bewithout it. I en­joy the coverage you have on thevarious communities, especiallythe stories about the differentchurches around the province .

I do hope you will be able tocarry on with this wonderfulmagazine. Good luck to you in

your work.Mrs. Annie Crocker

Green's Harbour , r\'F

E nclosed please find myrenewal subscription for a

year . 1 have enjoyed every issueespecially the one about Burgee,

Some time ago I visited manyof the communities you men­tioned but missed Burgeo. I wasvery impressed with the scenicbeauty of the coastline. I neversaw anything like it before .

E.AttwoodHolyrood, :'\'F

FISHERIESOUR PAST ... OUR FUTURE

Canada 'sDepartment of Fisheries and Oceans

Serving Newfoundlandersat sea, at home and abroad

l a m enclosing payment foranother year of your

magazine .I enjoy it very much and espe­

cially like to read about the oldpeople and what they have to say .I wish more of them would writeto you. I also love the articles andpictures about the sea and theschooners .

Keep up the good work. I wishyou and your staff a very happyHIllS.

Richard PowellPort Albert. SF

promOllnl qu ah!) f.\ h and\~afood

• ~~pandilli mafk ~h

pfOI~"11II1o! marine ~n\'fonm~nl\

Iostering Inl~fnarlunai f~\OUrc~concervanon

Canada

I recently came across yourmagazine and really enjoyed

reading it. Whoever thought upthe name Decks Awash was agenius!

To those who love the sea andboats , it is the only name themagazine could be called.

I would very much like you toput me on your mailing list.

Peggy ZempBonne Bay. SF

l am pleased to enclose myrenewal subscription to your

excellent magazine. DecksAwashhas been a source of infer-

I malion and education and we! often use it as an aid in research.II Of course . we regularly pass iton to family and friends also .

Sincere congratulations for thefine work on the Stephenvilleissue .

Clayton C. LoughlinPasadena, NF

WHY NOT RENEW NOW ORGIVE A CHRISTMAS GIFT?

v o n r f"\vl .. . \:J V I 1 I V I V , IL.I

Canada'sDepartment of Fisheries and Oceans

Serving Newfoundlandersat sea, at home and abroad

pictures aoou the sea and theschooners.

Keep up the good work . I wishyou and your staff a very happy1985.

Richard PowellPort Albert. NF

managmg the ZOO-mil( IU nt

cha rt ing th e WOll er ,

promOlin. qU<ilhl) r"h andseafood

im prO\llng fi~h(,fmen'\ incomev

resear chin g fh h recour ce-,

u ndervtandrn g 1M oce ans

develo ping ' 111a l1cra ft har bour ,

fO\lering iruer nauo nai resourceconcervauon

Canada

I recently came across .yourmagazine and reall y enjoyed

reading it. 'Whoever thought upthe name Decks Awash was agenius!

To those who love the sea andboats, it is the only name themagazine could be called .

I would very much like you toput me on your mailing list.

Peggy ZempBonne Bay , SF

l am pleased to enclose myrenewal subscription to your

excellent magazine . DecksAwash has been a source of infor­

I mation and education and weoften use it as an aid in research.

IOfcourse, we regularly pass it

on to family and friends also .Sincere congratulations (or the

fine work on the Stephenvilleissue.

Clayton C. LoughlinPasadena. NF

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