Cape Breton's Magazine

would go out and twist them on. There's a" round wheel. And a footboard to stand on. You'd stand there and you'd keep your foot on the toggle to keep it in the notch, and you'd wind them on as tight as you could get them. That's one brake. And then you'd jump to the next car and put that one on; and then you'd jump to the next car. You've got to go over the top of the car, and jump from one to the other. The brake- men 'd probably put on 7 or 8 brakes on each end, when you'd be going down the grade. And when you'd get to the bottom of the grade, you'd start back, taking them off. And by the time you'd get them off, the engineer had it wide open heading up another grade ahead of you. That's the fastest you'd be going. And you take after a silver thaw or a glitter storm--the space between the hoppers was a good lit? tle jump. You stand on the edge of one hop? per and jump into the next one. Probably 4 or 5 feet. There'd be ice on-the trains, even over the coal, and the lumpy coal would be frozen. And it wasn't uncommon for one of those wooden hoppers, for the bottom to let go, because they were put up there with just a keep. There were 4 sec? tions in the bottoms in each car, and the working of the train sometimes would let the bottom drop. That was common. And the coal would fall on the track. It wouldn't derail the train--it was scattered enough; but it happened quite often--and you're running over that coal. (Aren't you sur? prised you didn't get killed?) It was a general routine; it was a daily practice. But it was sometimes miraculous. I knew one man, he fell off the train. He was in the middle of the track, between the rails. and there was quite a little space under those wooden hoppers. He laid in the mid? dle of the track and there were 13 cars went over him, they just cleared him. But he was killed later on. They were banking coal at the steel plant. And they had to take a run for it, the engine had to go as fast as it could to get it up. The cars went off the tracks and he went under the cars and was killed. That same fellow that 13 cars went over without a scratch. And I knew another fellow, he fell off. He was shunting, he was on the end of the car, and when the driver put the brake on, there was like a surge went out, and he fell off. He went down, and the axle was kind of rough where it was rusty. He had overalls on, and it kind of caught him and threw him around underneath, on the axle. And he died after. There was one instance we were coming from the pier. We didn't have any air brakes then. And when we got to Victoria Junction, the fireman said, "Look out ahead, there's something on the track there ahead." You couldn't tell what it was. Sometimes a car would lose slack coal, the bottom would be leaky, and slack would run down and form a pile on each side of the track. And this black blob was on the track. Then we got a little closer and he said; "I think it's a man." Well, the engineer couldn't stop in time, so I crawled down the steps. The ground tapered off right quick--and it was hard to run on. But I took off as hard as I could. He had an overcoat on, and I grabbed him by the back of the neck and I hauled him back. When the engine was going by, it hit him in the shoulder. The engine and 4 or 5 cars went by before the engin- COST PLUS MART $10ooto$200i" L0WERPRICE GUARANTH Cost Plus Mart guarantees that our prices on major furniture, appliances, color TV's, stereos and carpets will be from $10.00 to $200.00 lower than competitive prices. i COCTPUUSMARTPRIMECONCGRNISUnir PRICES. oWE AT COST PLUS MART ASK YOU. TO FACE FACTS. TODAY'S s: HIGH RENTS, HIGH BANK INTEREST AND EXPENSIVE ADVER- ' H USING COSTS ETC. MUST BE PASSED ON BY THE RETAILER ' 'TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. THAT'S WHY WE HAVE ELIMINATED o MOST OF THE HIGH COSTS OF OPERATING A CONVENTIONAL 3 ' STORE. COST PLUS MART IS JUST AS COfiCERNED ABOUT o tTHE price YOU HAVE TO PAY AS YOU ARE. | 3 We have more Big Name Brands than most dealers. C? T Get to know us! Costpliisniart i 1465 6E0RGE ST.. Phone 539-1491 i "> STORE HOURS: Mon. and Tum.. 10 a.m. to 6 p.in.: WM. CIosm: murs. and Fri. < 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sat., 9 a.m. to SlP.iti. ' OUR PRIME CONCERN IS LOW PRICES ' (10) See life as it was in Cape Breton during the nineteenth century. Nova Scotia Highland Village The Highland Village shows examples of dwellings built in Scotland, the first homes built with ba? sic tools in Cape Breton, as well as buildings that exemplify the settlers firm foothold in the new land. More than half the planned buildings are completed and work goes on. Come see us grow. OPEN JUNE 15 Highland Village Day SEPT 15 August 1 • 20th year of this 10 to 6 festival, featuring tradi- DAILY tional Scottish entertainment/ Highland Village is located at lona on Route 2'23, which leaves the Trans-Canada about 7 miles east of Whycocomagh. It is a scenic alter? native paved route eastward to the Sydney ar? ea. Two short ferry rides pro? vide pleasant breaks in the drive The view from the villagi is magnificent and worth the drive