Page 37 - With Frank E. Jackson at 99

ISSUE : Issue 34

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1983/8/1

With Frank E. Jackson at 99 North Sydney North Sydney was larger and busier, more business, than Sydney, for years. Vooght Brotjhers' store--they tore it down here last year--the ladies of Sydney would come over to buy their stuff. It was all good quality English goods. There were two Vooght men. And one would go over to Eng? land in the fall, the other one in the spring, buying for goods. They had the very best quality. And they did a big busi? ness. They did a whole business in hay, feed, and flour. They'd get two or three or four cargoes of salt, either from Portu? gal or from Liverpool, England--there were two different grades of salt--for the fish? ermen, farmers, and others that needed salt. All from Cape North clean to Grand Narrows, people used to come there to shop. They did a big business, oh, big business. And there was W. H. Moore & Co., a large commercial store, general store. J. W. In? graham, a large general store. Joseph Mc- Pherson had a large general store. And Gan? non & Co. had a dry goods store. All flour? ishing. Lots of people would come from Syd? ney to shop over here, because they had a greater variety of goods. This was before steel days, I'm talking a- bout. They were in big business, those stores, before 1900, before the steel works started, either one of them. (What was North Sydney's industry?) Well, there were the collieries in Sydney Mines; large? ly shopping was in North Sydney here. There was a stove foundry, two or three woodworking plants. And the cable office. Tanneries. A number of other smaller indus? tries here at that time. And the shipping piers--railway came here from Sydney Mines--there was an awful lot of work there. The Black Diamond Line of ships used to load, as well as all of the coal that was used in Newfoundland--it was all taken from here in small vessels. Way back before 1900, there were no steam? ships then at all. And large vessels-- barks, brigs, barkentines--big sailing ves? sels from Britain or somewhere overseas, would come in the fall of the year and an? chor in the harbour here, and be deliber? ately icebound in the harbour all winter long, waiting for spring, for a telegram to come to tell them where in New Bruns? wick or Quebec or what-have-you to go load lumber. Mostly it was lumber--to take it overseas. The reason they came in the fall: it's always headwinds coming, prevailing winds are from the westo And sailing ves? sels, they tack over a long time. If they'd have waited till spring to come, there'd be drift ice to contend with, ice? bergs to contend with. But if they're over here, as soon as navigation would open here, a telegram would tell them where to go, so they could make an extra trip in the year by doing that. And lots of ves? sels would come from overseas. They'd come in here--they'd be out of supplies--get supplies and fresh water in the sijmmertime before going up wherever else they were go? ing , And there were ship chandlers who had men with big rowboats, two men to a row- boat. The lightkeeper at Low Point would telephone to North Sydney, "I see sails on the horizon." They'd leave and row out, perhaps two or three different ones, one try to beat the others to get the order from these ships that would come in here. These fellows would race out to get aboard, get the order from them. They'd stay a- board and come in, then place the order in with their store here. Another thing that I remember around about the turn of the century: if there were go- (37)

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