Cape Breton's Magazine

At the Glengarry Mineral Spring Stephen W, MacNeil: I was born right here (on the Glengarry Road at Big Pond) in 1901, And The Spring--it seems that the last settler out on this road, about 7 miles from here anyway--he was after his cattle; you know, bringing his cattle home in the evening. Hector Maclntyre, that was the fellow that found The Spring. The cat? tle stopped at this place--a little brook there too--and he saw them drinking this water. And he went to investigate what it was, and he saw this spring there; he could see the water pumping up from way down. And he was crippled with rheumatism-- he had to walk with a cane and all that-- old man, too, I guess, at the time--and he tasted the water and the taste was terri? ble, you know, salty and hard to drink. So he drank it anyways. He thought there might be a cure in it for his rheumatism. And the next day he.went back after the cows, or with them again, and he,drank some more of it. And in three or four days drinking this spring water, he threw the cane away--he was cured. And he found out it was the water, the mineral water, that cured him. And he advertised it and told what happened--and then he was a busy man keeping people away, because they were passing his door going to the spring, a lot of them getting cured. That's how the thing started. (Were there other springs around that peo? ple thought you could get a cure from?) Oh, there was one in Irish Cove, I think, sim? ilar, but not as strong. The water was very strong in this one. Alkali, or what? ever you want to call it. So people were going there from everywhere. And a lot of them getting cured, it seems, I can tell the story of a man who came here. He was from Waterford, a cripple, and his hands were swollen and he had a rubber on one foot and a shoe on the other. And he came--it was horse-and-wagon days, before motor--and he asked, could he stay for the night. He told his condition and that he was going to The Mineral Spring, Well, we tried to get him out of the wagon and just made it in the house somehow, and we had supper. He just came at supper time. He sat at the table with us, or with me an3rway--I was only very young--and I had to peel the potatoes for him and butter his bread and did everything for him. He could lift the cup to his mouth, that was all. And he told us his story, that if he could get another horse, would we give him a horse to take him out to The Spring while he'd rest his horse, next day, you know. We had a bed and we put him in bed, and the next day we tried to go, I got my own horse and put it on his wagon and was go? ing with him, but when we got everything ready, he couldn't get in the wagon. I had to go down for my uncle below the road here. He came up and the two of us helped to get him in the wagon--he was that crip? pled- -and I took him out. Oh, it was a real hot day, very hot, but we got to The Spring, and got him out of the wagon somehow, and he took off all his clothes excepting his underwear, and he bathed. You couldn't bail but about 2% gal? lons. You'd bail that out, then she'd fill again 2% more gallons, So we finally got enough and he got me to soak him. He laid down in the sun and I soaked him all over with his underwear on, you know. And he drank some of it too. And I went off wan? dering and he was there, and I came back and the underwear was quite dry. He says, "Soak me again with it; put it all over me." Soaked him again. He had a nice lit? tle hill there. And he drank it again. Then he had jars, the old-fashioned jars,

CONTINUED ON PAGE 31 Beautiful, Intelligent and Peaceful (ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK I New Hours: [ 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. July 1 to Labour Day 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. the Rest of the Year ?? m'w"- Open 7 Days a Week 3 MAJOR EXHIBIT AREAS: Bell the Man Bell the Experimenter Hydrofoil Hall GUIDE SERVICE AVAILABLE Baddeck N.S. 75km. west of Sydney on Route 105