Cape Breton's Magazine

with their finger through the hook- the hook. -and t-hey found the lamp, his finger still in Oh, I've had a lot of accidents. There's no questions about it. If there was some? thing to get I got it. I remember I wasn't feeling too good, my eyes bothered me • lost the sight of my eye since, in the coal mine. So I went to Sydney to work in the fire station for the coal company there, at the piers. You may remember when the building was there, just between the steel plant and the piers. I was there about 6 years I guess. All nightshift, all backshift too. I used to have to put the water a- board the ships, you know, when they'd come in. The pipes run out on the pier for water. And you hook on your hose and put it aboard the ship, fill up her tank. So this time I went out • it was New Year's Eve • I forget the name of the boat now, coal company boat • put the hose aboard of her, give her water. So I said. When you're through, pull the hose ashore will you? So they pulled the boat off from the wharf. And let the hose drop overboard, see? And where the slack used to come down from the chutes, it froze icicles on it. And I got a hold and was pulling about like that and I lost my balance and over I goes overboard. And there was ice all around, and those piers are about 40 feet high • and look that was low tide and twice that high up I couldn't see nothing else but the ice. There was weights that come down from the chutes at the pier. And I tried with my gloves on but I couldn't stick. So I took my glove off • bit it off • and I put my hand on the weight. And I did the same with the other one. Steel weights. My two hands. I'll bet you I was there all of a half hour or more, sticking to the steel weights. I sung out a hundred times. Fellow by the name of Billy MacPhee, Second Engineer, happened to come out of the engine room and he heard me. The boat was off oh quite a distance • so they started the winches up and pulled her in and put the gangplank out and come ashore and one fellow come down • he slid down on a wire rope • he put the rope under my arms and they pulled me up. Of course my fingers were sore after, stuck right on the frost, kind of burned me. They give me about that much rum. And they said Okay you little bugger take it off for home. I lived only a short ways away. I started up the hill but my legs got stiff • kind of froze. I'll tell you how I lost the sight of my eye. We were boring a hole, working at the coal face then • and the drill wasn't working. This was a power drill and there's a hole through those drills for blowing air in there for to blow the dust, the borings out • and it was sticking. It was only a brand new drill and the hole wasn't open e- nough to blow the air. We used to have to pull it back like that for to clear it. And a piece of stuff from the drill • whether it was a piece of shell off the drill or whether it was a piece of cement • hit me in the eye. And the shotfire was waiting for us to finish up to shoot the coal • at that time we had shotfires • the shotfire had to help my buddy finish boring and shoot the coal down, finish the box. I had to go and lay down. My eye was paining boy like blazes. Vifell then after I got up and washed it seemed to ease up and it didn't bother me too much. Boy I got up the next morning it pained terrible. So my wife was living then • and it was a great remedy in them days to keep down inflammation to put cold tea leaves. You might have heard tell of it. Put the tea leaves on the eye and that kind of keep the pain down. It got a little better so I went to Dr. MacLennan in Sydney. He couldn't find nothing but the sight was split • whatever was in there penetrated right through, split the sight. Genuine Down East Hospitality Keddy's Motor Inn 600 King's Road, Sydney, N.S. Phone 539-1140 • Telex 019-3517 MERCURY LINCOLN MACAULAY'S GARAGE BADDECK, N.S. Angel Manufacfuring & Supply Co. Ltd For the Best in Heating and Supplies p. O. BOX 98 NORTH SYDNEY MOVA SCOTU Cape Breton's Magazine/10 Industrial Supplies Everything for Boats Tarps Paint Ropes All Sporting Goods Rubber Clothes Fishing Gear Suppliers to All of Cape Breton Sydney Ship Supply Corner Dominion and Victoria Road 564-5425