Cape Breton's Magazine

half dollars, you could pension off all Cape Breton! With the money that we wasted down there. See, this is where we stand. It's a sad picture. (It is a sad picture. Tell me, where does it begin for your family?) Well, my father was the first. My father went there proba? bly in 1913 or '14, before World War One. John Murphy. Originally they came from Ireland, but they came from Newfoundland. (He was a schoolteacher.) Came to Sydney. And he worked on the steel plant up until--I just forget the year he retired--1952, probably--'51 or '52. He worked in the Open Hearth (Did your father want you to go on the steel plant?) Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, he got me a job in the Open Hearth. See, that's where he was. My brother Pat went first-- Pat went down--he was the oldest. He went to the Open Hearth. He worked at the strip? per, where they take those ingots that you saw poured yesterday, and take that casing off of them. He worked up there. And my brother Tom worked up there. And my brother Sam worked up there. Three of them. But I went on the furnaces. I liked the furnace. So I NOmSCOTTA It's all yours. Quiet coves, picturesque ports, long sandy beaches and wind-swept headlands on your 350-mile long peninsula of incredible beauty. Isn't it time you re? discovered your Nova Scotia? It's all yours. Exciting modern cities with just the right blend of the old and new, and dozens of towns and villages steeped in seafaring traditions. Isn't it time you re? discovered your Nova Scotia? It's all yours. More than 400 festivals offering the sounds of music, singing, dancing, lobster feasts, arts and crafts, exhibitions and much, much more. Isn't it time you re? discovered your Nova Scotia? For more informati 1- Halifax (902) 425-5781 n festivals and events call 800-565-0000 >r THE DISCOVERY IT'S ALL YOURS went on the fur? naces in 1935. I was 20--just turned 20. (When you say you went on the furnaces--surely they don't just give you control over a furnace.) Oh no, no, no. You go on as a third helper. Then you work your way up, from third help? ing to second helping to first help. Then you learn to run the furnace. On your way up, you learn the operation. (As a third helper, what did you do?) Well, you had to carry all the stock for the furnace. Make your tap? ping bars to punch the hole out. There was no such thing as oxygen then to burn out a tap hole, or bombs-- you had to punch them out with a big steel bar. You'd have two big billets bolted together, with a clamp. And there's a big pit, and you stood on the edge of it. Sometimes fel? lows fell in the pit. You know.