Cape Breton's Magazine

moved 58 buildings in one year. That was from the first of May till the 24th of De? cember. We took a house in--a fellow had started to move it, and he had to give up-- oh, it was a big house. He broke the arches in it, and what didn't he do. So, we went out and we gave him a price on mov? ing it. We came into Sydney. We tied up the highway between Glace Bay and Sydney completely, it was that wide. We had a Mountie with us, and another Mountie in at Sydney, at Ashby. And the Mountie told me, "When you get a place where you can, at a service station or someplace, pull over, to let the traffic by." Well, you wouldn't believe, there'd be 150 cars, I bet you, behind him. And when he'd let this go, he'd call the fellow in at Ashby to let them go from there. So, when we got down to where it was going, up on Welton Street someplace, the woman came, boy, rushing by--"Goldfish, my goldfish!" "What about your goldfish?" "I thought it was sick," she said, "and I put it in a cup on the floor." "Oh, well," I said, "you can for? get about it." She opened the door, and there was the cup and the goldfish sitting on the floor, all the way from Glace Bay. But you learned all the time. We could come in here this morning, this house here--oh, by one o'clock or something like that, we'd be gone with it. All gone. We'd have the wheels and everything under her. No problem. (Did you ever drop a house?) No. I dropped an old schoolhouse belonging to myself. A rail bent on me. But I never dropped, or did any damage, to any other. I took the fire station out, in Grand Lake Road there, I took that from the mine here. Before that, another man--he was a good mover, a very good mover. And he had taken a house in--never got a permit to go through Syd? ney or anything--and went down through on Kings Road or the Esplanade--and he blocked her solid for two hours. So, I was getting a house ready to go down at the same time. I told the guy, "You get the permit for Sydney; I'll get it for the highway." So he came back. He says, "I can't get a permit. He won't give it to me." So I went in. The police: "Ah," he says, "here comes the big and bold Mac? Leod." He gave me a permit. But the next time when I was going through--it was a store--he wanted me to go through at 4 o'clock in the morning. I said, "My God, you're going to kill somebody. If I go through at 4 o'clock in the morning, she's all yours--your responsibility, not mine." Oh yeah, he'd send lots of cops there. Okay. We just started from Kings Road, and just got up on top of the hill there, in? side the city limits. There was a cop with a car there, red thing--car came, you know, and he was trying to stop them, and he didn't stop them. There was a bunch of boys. I hollered at him, "You'd better get the hell to the other side--that fellow's going to hit us." That's the only person that ever hit us. He took the whole side right out of the car. He was drunk, he had no license, and you should see all the liq? uor that was in the car. So after that, we mQved that building--we hit wires and tore them down--oh, it was not reasonable to move it at nighttime, not fit. I guess that's the only one we ever moved in the nighttime. (What would happen if you moved a house and you damaged the house?) I was insured for awhile. Then they cut the insurance off. There was a house moved in Halifax. And the fellow that was moving it went too near the edge of a new road. And the house upset, and there was a man on the roof, and he was killed. The house was demol? ished. They quit insuring moving buildings then. You wouldn't get any insurance for than lumber and nails. Because we've been building quality into our homes for more than 20 years. "They just don't build homes like they used to." How often have you, or one of your friends said something like this? You're probably right. House-building has changed ... for the better! Lighter, stronger materials. Energy- saving designs. More efficient plumbing and electrical systems. They all add up to better-built homes. If there's one thing that's lacking in many of today's homes though, it's quality. Some firms sacrifice quality for speed. It makes a certain amount of sense. The faster homes are built, the more can be built. But it's you the prospective home builder who suffers. How do you recognize a quality-built home? It's simple. Just look for our name as the builder. At Co-op our time, expertise and experience is channeled into each home we build. And it shows! See for yourself. Visit our office. We'll show you our catalogue of fine Harbour Homes. If you wish, we'll even custom build to your specif ications. We want you to be satisfied with the home you build. After all, you'll be living in it for many years to come. It's got to be good. And it is if its built by Harbour Homes. CO-OP You'/e Got Experience On Your Side CO-OP MIH) Pointing The Way To Better Living Building Supplies KING'S ROAD, SYDNEY - 539-6410 STATION STREET, PORT HAWKESBURY - 625-2600 (16)