Cape Breton's Magazine

My sister also showed me how to mrn the machine off. We were standing near the washer where we could see the bottom of the man? gle where there was a two-pronged propeller. She pointed to it and said, "You see that wheel under the mangle? Well, if anybody gets their hands caught in it while you're working there, step on it and the rollers will separate." Weeks went by. Then one cold afternoon, I heard an inhuman- sounding scream. It went through me Uke a cold bellowing wind and chilled me right to the core of my bones. I knew immediately what had happened • one of the girls had got her hand caught in the mangle. A girl in the back of the machine kicked the propeller, but it broke! I watched in horror when I saw her foot kicking at it again and again, trying to make it work, but 1 could see from where I was standing Smart boaters plan ahead. They know that a ter? rific boating sea? son means more than just a new coat of wax. It means thorough pre-departure mainte? nance, taking the time to go through the Canadian Coast Guard Pre-departure Checklist, that includes things like battery condition, fuel levels, and safety equipment. Breakdowns can quickly deteriorate into life-threatening situations. So keep the BE BOAT SMART: CHECK IT OUT NATIONAL BOATING WEEK ?? 'B Canadian Garde cotiere ?? 'B Coast Guard canadienne that it was broken and even when she kicked the other side, nothing happened. The mangle just kept tuming, taking Teresa Giimish's hand with it as it went. Teresa's hand was tangled in the sheets and the sheets were rolling up in the small rollers. Round and round the three rollers went. Farther and farther her little hand went and she was bent over holding onto her elbow with her good hand as if trying to stop it from going in the machine. Her mouth was open and her eyes were filled with tears. Her terrified screams were joined by the screaming and hollering of all the rest of her class which numbered about twenty giris. Some of them were just jumping up and down in one spot • others were rurming around trying to help each other. Round and round the big steel hot roller rolled. I remember holding my mouth so I wouldn't scream, but my eyes were filling with tears because the two little girls who had been working with her were holding onto her waist as if trying to stop her from being fed into the , machine. Rosie was one of them. My sister was yelling and crying too. I was so scared I thought that all the three girls were going to be swallowed up by the mangle. I could see another girl in the back of the machine jumping up and down trying to reach the switch on the wall behind her to turn the machine off, but it was too high for her. The other girl was lifting her up but she missed. Someone else ran for a chair. In the meantime, out front, the girls were still hanging on to Teresa whose hand kept going in deeper and deeper. We did not know what to do. No one had ever told us what to do in an emergency. Finally the Sister-in-Charge, Pi'jkwej, came running from the kitchen where she was hav? ing a tea break and reached up over the giris' heads and switched off the button. She acted like she saw herself as a heroine. TTiey pried the sheets off the rollers and released Teresa. A layer of skin from her hand came off with the sheet and she fainted. The giris carried her over to the chair and the nun put a wet cloth over her face and told us to go away. We took a step backward and kept an eye on our little friend. Eve? ryone was crying silently now because she looked so pale and her eyes were rolling up inside her head from side to side with the whites showing and her lips had tumed purple. Some other nuns had heard the screaming and had come mnning from the kitchen and other places. The fumace man and the fumace boys came in from the back and we all stood around not knowing what to do. Finally the nuns sent us to dinner odds stacked in your favour by preparing your boat thoroughly, carrying a com? plete set of safety equipment and knowing how to use it. The Coast Guard can help you prepare by providing informa? tion to help increase your safety and peace of mind. For a free copy of the pre-departure checklist, call our toll-free Boating Safety Hotline at 1-800-267-6687. Check it out... boating is fun... but be prepared. CanadS