Cape Breton's Magazine

were getting 17C a pound. Now, that's my young days. And after that, of course, they had to give more money and more money and more money. I bought lobsters this year, I paid $4 a pound. (So when you were on the light, I take it there was plenty of time to do other work?) Well, there was only night and morning work in fine weather. You would put the light on. The only thing, I was supposed to stay there. I stayed there for the first two years. And after that I started chasing the girls and, of course, I used to come ashore at night and some? times only go in the morning. Get me? But he left me there, just the same. When the fellow appointed me there, he says, "Don't leave the lighthouse alone at night." That's all he told me, and he went to Halifax. But, you know, I was kind of self-employed, because the Lady Laurier =a' SUPERIOR OPTICAL LIMITED COMPLETE OPTICAL SERVICE ' r' 'V Shirley Sparling Optician Owned & Operated JAMES DEAN Optician 2nd Pair FREE Mon. ~ Tues. - Sat 10 am - 6 pm Wed. - Thurg. - Pri. 10 am - 9 pm $64*8486 Mayflower Mall Your Ideas .. .Our Prcxjrams Lets Get TbM3RK At Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, we know that you and your ideas are our best resources. We have the tools to help you put your ideas to work. Whether your interest lies in the traditional industries or in a high-tech related business, we can and will help. It is time to combine your ideas and desire to accomplish something here at home with the resources at ECBC. Make your move, and with our assis -tance, make your mark on our area. Let's become partners for progress! Enterprise '' '"'' ''''' ''' '' ''"' help, contact... Cape Breton Corporation Sydney: Commerce Tower, 4th Floor, 15 Dorchester Street, Sydney, N.S. BIP ST7 Tel: (902) 564-3600 (Bilingual service available) • TTY: (902) 564-3962 (TtUcommumcatims Dmcefi Port Hawkesbury: 32 Paint Street, Port Hawkesbury Light Industrial Park, N.S B0E2V0 Tel: (902) 625-3111 Toll Free in N.S. and P.E.I. 1-800-705-3926 from Halifax used to come from Halifax with supplies (for the lighthouse). And they were tight as old hell, see. They wouldn't give you too much. So, I'd only see them once a year. That's all. Then you'd forget about them. You were on your own. I had the log. I had to state what time I was putting the light on, what time I was putting it out. I used to take an almanac and I used to look in an almanac what time the sun was setting or the sun was rising in the morning and I used to put that, eh! They'd never look at the darn thing at all. That's government work, eh? (The other thing you were in charge of was the fog horn.) Ah, you had a special book for that. Well, there was fog. You would have to say how much time that you were blowing the horn.... I had a hand horn. That's all. And, of course, they'd blow. And the only thing, when I'd hear a horn like that, well of course, they'd blow and then I'd (answer) them, that's all. No more than that.... (So you never had to rescue anybody.) No. No, no, no .... And there's no traffic now at all. There's no traffic now compared to what there was. There used to be vessels and boats going right through.... Sometimes a Newfoundland vessel used to go to Sydney in the fall and they'd take a load of coal from Sydney and take that to P.E.I. And they'd come (back) with produce. They'd have a load (of coal) going and a load of potatoes coming.... Sometimes they'd anchor in Syd? ney for the rest of the winter and keep the potatoes in the hull (hold) where they wouldn't freeze and they'd sell according as they were sold in Sydney.... There was some loaded with wood here going to the mines in Glace Bay. And I cut wood myself, I cut pit tim? bers for the mines and everything. That was all loaded by hand in vessels. Pulp wood was the same thing. There was no trucking there like there is now with pulp. I used to fish salmon. Then when I was through fishing I'd do a little farming. Sometimes I used to