Cape Breton's Magazine

just brown, green, whatever, or spotty. So, we let him go. Put him out in the har? bour. You couldn't tame him. It's funny how you see on television how these people tame the seals. We tried this one, but you couldn't tame it. All the kids around and everything, but no, you couldn't tame him. He'd bark like a dog. (So, how many times did that boat ever sink from under you?) That was the third time we lost her. We lost her twice before that, and we got her up and repaired her. This time she was a total loss. She was old anyway. The bottom fell out of her I guess, when she hit the rock. She was old. She was about forty-five, fifty years old. My old grandfather owned her. I was twen? ty-one, twenty-two when I lost her • so I'd say she was forty years old. One time we had a ship, there was three brothers on her, just about the same place where I lost her, too. That was Christmas Eve we lost her. I got home at two o'clock. And we had to walk to get home. Thick snow, ice pellets, worst night of the winter, I guess. In them days down in Newfoundland, the ponds--we called them "ponds" • rivers, were froze over, just enough, hard enough that we could walk across them. So we got down to a place about three miles from home. A telegraph pole, telegraph wire, same as that {George points to a telephone pole across the street), only lower. I got hold of one of them and I told the fellas to stay there and I'd try to get to the nearest house. So, I got to the nearest house, woke them up, and they took sleighs, went in and took the other five guys home. But I made it all the ways on me own. (How long be? fore you got home?) Oh, that was about two o'clock in the morning. We were gone about ' 1_IIVIITED twenty-four hours from home. That was Christ? mas Day. That's the only Christ? mas • we al? ways had liquor, we always had a good time-- that was the only Christmas 110 Reeves St. SYDNEY, N. S. ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS "Serving Cape Breton Over 35 Years" SPECIALIZING IN: • INDUSTRIAL • COMMERCIAL • INSTITUTIONAL - RESIDENTIAL • WIRING CONTRACTORS • MAINTENANCE SERVICE • ELECTRIC HEATING SYSTEMS ?? FREE ESTIMATES FAX 526-1699 562-1132 I stayed in bed all day. And we fished all that year, up to • war broke out in '39 • I lost her in '36. I to? tal lost her then coming up in the Gulf. We had seventy-five seals, and we had a couple thousand pounds of halibut, and I lost the whole thing. Thick a fog, and same way. We had an old engine that a hole come into it, and (so) we had no engine. Thick fog and you didn't know how close you were. We knew where we were to, but we didn't know how close we were to the rock. We ran over the rock, knocked the whole bottom out. She sunk right down there. That was the end of her. We got the two dories and the trawls, stuff that was on deck, and boarded the dory. But what was down below, that all went down with her. Seals and everything went down with her. That's how I come over to Cape Breton. (How did that get you to Cape Breton?) Well, we had the Limey government down there (in New? foundland) then, and down there they give you nothing. Them days, if you were on relief they called it, they gave you seven dollars a month for liv? ing. That wasn't very much. That old black flour --they called it 562-9893 1-800-330-4223 DEPART SYDNEY 8 AM DEPART HFX 1:30 PM 5th YR. IN BUSINESS PERFECT SAFETY RECORD AIR CONDITIONED SMOKE FREE brake service drums & rotors-resurfaced DISCO TIRE 2&4 wheel alignment including 1-ton truclts and motor tiomiBs computerized engine analysis tune up and air conditioning GOODYEAR CERTIFIED AUTO SERVICE 95 Disco St. SYDNEY 539-4070