Cape Breton's Magazine

1 o'clock in the morning. Christmas day. So we lost our Christmas Eve. But that was nothing. We lost every one. I don't reraeraber being horae for one in the 7 years. We started at 7 o'clock in the morning, frora Sydney, We'd go to St. Ann's and back • one day. Then we'd have to load for north, and bunker, wash down • wash the ship down. She's full of coal dust and hay. Then you*d go north. And going down north you raight land a whole load of hay like that at one place. Or cement, A car of ceraent would be 1400 bags • highway construction, bridges, when they were putting that Cabot Trail through. We'd have punchions of molasses and one man on deck • you*d have to up-end thera your? self • 1724 pounds. (That's a lot of mo? lasses.) That's a lot of lift, too. You raight have 10 punchions on deck. You might have 50 barrels of gas. And a hold full of cargo, (So there was a great deal going in,) And a great deal coming out, too. Fish and cattle, sheep. You'd take the sheep out. They'd bring thera out to you in boats at Dingwall and Bay St. Law? rence • boats 20 feet long, 4 or'5 feet deep--they??d take maybe 50 sheep at a turn. Tliey'd have to go back and get more and you'd be anchored there, thinking about getting back and so much on the dock. You'd load them aboard the Aspy, put them along the side of the ship, on the deck. And they'd be there baa-ing till you got to Sydney. Then we'd put thera in a pen. Sometimes they'd get loose on us and they'd run, and we'd have to go and chase them. (All around the ship?) All around the city. You better believe it. Sydney. All up and down the Esplanade and us going in big rubber boots chasing all those bloody things. It was real weird. And we'd have to get thera back, put thera in the pen, then go back aboard • bunker and load and wash down. Imagine washing down. Boy, they were hard hard times. (What were they paying you?) 36 bucks a month. That's before we got the 10 percent cut. I've seen us sit down like this after loading salt fish. We used to load salt fish in bulk down in Neil's Harbour. Tliey'd come down in boxes and you'd take them out and load them • coming on Christ? mas time. (iVhat kind of quantities?) 250, 000 pounds. Neil's Harbour and Ingonish and South Ingonish • would be 4 feet deep in the hold and the whole length of the hold • 250,000 pounds. And then we'd have deck cargo besides. In Ingonish they started a fishmeal plant. We'd put it up on the boat deck or any place we could get a spot to put it. They used to fish swordfish do ''l there one time. We'd take swordfish out to North Sydney--and they're heavy buggers too. Load the hold with thera and load the deck with thera. And hundreds of bags of fishmeal. You know, you're grabbing this stuff and swordfish you know is slimy, get all over your co? ver-alls. And you'd get where the heat was • you know, you're tired. And your DAVID M.LOUGHEED, 929-2039 LICENSED ELECTRICIAN Serving Victoria County's Homes and Businesses C & G MadEOD LIMITED Bread and Molasses by Andy MacDonald 6.95 Miners and Steelworkers • Labour in Cape Breton Paul MacEwan 12.50 Meraoirs of a Cape Breton Doctor (Dr.- MacMillan) 7.95 Uncle Angus and the Canso Causeway (MacTavish) 2.50 The Hidden Heritage at St. Ann's (Jaraes B. Lamb) 2.95 Breton History of the Presbyterian Church in Cap Rev. Archibald D. MacKinnon 4.2 3.95 3.75 Lion of Scotland (Norman McLeod of St. Ann's) Walk Cape Breton (DEVCO Guide) 2.50 and The Collectors' Edition of Cape Breton's Magazine The Largest Display of Souvenirs in Cape Breton 361 charlotte Street - P. O. Box 658 SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA Mall Orders A Specialty