Cape Breton's Magazine

The Hughie and Allan Reel Kinnon Beaton ha' . iri m rniinT'ir frifw??[rcrrirrrr, r.i'i mrmi jU'f in'jujCraTiLU'ifiii'irifffrnriCrtjfrr; from here and dropped them off in different places. And at this lady's place, I'd drop off the parcels from Sydney and she'd say, "I've got a few parcels here for Cheti? camp." "Okay." She'd give me a box. All quarts of rum, and all the rest of it. And she'd say, "They'll look after this when you get down there. They'll pay, and you bring me back my money, and you keep yours." Add on 500 on each one. Take it down. And they'd be there waiting, like a dog at dinnertime, for the bus. Four, 5, 6 quarts, sometimes. Made an extra 3 bucks yourself, and took her money back.... (Were you carrying much money at that time?) Oh, yeah, all kinds of money. Eve? rybody paid you that got on. And you punched out a ticket. (Were you ever held up?) No. No, that never crossed your mind. Because the kind of people at that time-- you never heard of any of the queer deals you hear about today. You know? "We're people you can talk to* Dealers for: ' Electronic Keyboards Guitars • Church Organs Quality Brand Name Pianos • PA Rentals • > Piano & Guitar Instruction ' Boutiliers' Music Shops OPEN MONDAY through SATURDAY Music Keyboards Guitars Reeds Strings Horns Violins Chanters Amplifiers PA Systems Supplies Cape Breton Shopping Centre The only little bit of trouble you might have is some guy--they'd all pick up a quart somewhere when they were in town. And--they were pretty good, you know. They'd get down in the back seat. You'd see 3 or 4 of them down in the back seat, well, you know what was going on. That they all had a crock and they were going to pick at it. I just used to look up in the mirror--I had a great big mirror, you know, that showed you the whole inside of the bus. I'd look up and I'd just say, "Save one for the driver, fellows, before you finish that." Whispers. "Hear that? Hear that? He knows we're having a snort." And they thought they were whispering, be? cause they had taken a couple of swigs, and they were as loud as they could be, but they didn't realize it! "He knows we're taking a snort. He's not a bad fel? low- -we'd better save him one." You never had any trouble, you know. But if you were stupid enough to say, "You put that away or I'll put you off the bus," they'd take the bus from you. You know. As simple as that. Great big burly guys, you know, that could throw me out of the bus-- take it from me.... They thought you were a great guy. When they'd see all the other passengers gone, they'd come up and, "Here. Have a quick one." Take a little swig and pass it back to them. (Did you think the bus was going to be your life, that you were going to stick to?) Well, you never gave it a thought in those days, because a job was a job. And 39 Keltic Drive Sydney River, N. S. B1S1P4 TAYLOR'S DENTURE CLINIC "dentures I CONSTRUCTED, RELINED & REPAIRED J. B. TAYLOR • LICENSED DENTURIST D.V.A. & Dental Plans Accepted SPECIAL DISCOUNTS FOR SENIORS Registered with "TAPS" (Services tor Veterans) MONDAY-FRIDAY: 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (AFTER HOURS ON REQUEST) 92 Charlotte St., Sydney 564-9111 Midway Motors Ltd. Now with Tvw) Locations: HEAD OFFICE '' NEW OFFICE Middle River wSf Port Hastings 295-2290 "' 625-3641 ' Cape Breton's Finest Locally-Owned Musical Outlet - We've Been CHRYSLER Since 192 6