Page 76 - With Dan Angus Beaton, Blackstone: Farm Life, Dredging on the Great Lakes, and Tales

ISSUE : Issue 47

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1988/1/1

the crane?) Oh, yeah. I was running the crane for years. Yes, yes, yes. And there, you did all your own repair work. Anything broke on the machines, you repaired your own machines, no matter what it was. So you were as much an engineer as anything else. You were as much a mill? wright as anything else. You understand? (How did you learn to do that?) Learning with the men that I was with. (You didn't go to school for this.) No, no. (Not at all.) No. (Were you ever in bad storms?) Oh, God Al? mighty, of course we were in bad storms. Real storms. Lake Erie is one of the worst --possibly one of the stormiest places on earth. It'll kick up the dirtiest seas in the world. Well, I'll tell you. That Rus? sian tug came over. And it sailed all the seas, the seven seas, so'to speak. And they landed up in Superior, Wisconsin, on Lake Superior. And there was a storm warning up. They had this big tug. This great big tug. And they were going across. They told him he'd better stay--he'd better not go across. They said, "Across this little pond? Are you crazy? We sailed the seven seas," he said. "Do you think a little pond is going to stop us?" "Well," they said, "our advice to you is not to leave. Stay." They laughed at them, and threw off the lines and took off--and they never were heard of from, after. Great Lakes put them down. You can get an awful sea on the Great Lakes, man. You've got 300 miles of a sweep there for wind. You can get a dirty wind at 300 miles. Dunbars (the company Dan Angus worked for) had me for--no mat? ter, from one end of the Great Lakes to the other--I'd go from one rig to the other, every rig they had. I had to operate them all. No matter what one it was. Whether it was the Derry Dunbar, the Handy, the Gladiator--no mat? ter which one. I was supposed to be able to handle them all. That is, now: if you're sick--you un? derstand?- -you' re possibly up at Port Huron. And you had to go to the hospital. Okay, "Beaton, go up and take his place." Another fellow, maybe, down in Buffalo. "Go down in Buffalo and take that fellow's place." No matter where it was. I was in Amherstburg, Ontario, on the Livingston Channel--that was a big job. After doing the shift. And ojcay, head foreman came along: "You're wanted in Sandu? sky, Ohio (to replace Norman Mac? Dermid)." I said, "Okay. When?" "Tomorrow morning." Getting off at midnight. I said, "Have you got a helicopter?" "No." I said, "Is that right?" I said, "I'll be there when I can get there." And there was no way I could get there before two days time, you know? All right. This was the heart of Depression, too. Jobs were awful hard to come by. I knew Norman MacDermid well. I said, "What happened to MacDermid?" He said, "He's in the hospital." I went home and went to bed. Got up in the morning. Took the train. The following day again I got down. They were all, the whole bunch of them, on the dock waiting for me. I had to laugh at that. Ten of them. Operators and everything else. "What's wrong in the first place?" They told me, "We're sinking a big crib for a lighthouse to go on it"--out in the lake, you know. (They had) put a big crib, and they had to put a lighthouse on it. And they had lost the one before, with the big storm. Then they had to clean the whole (76) The Bet COMPENSATION ForAnInjuhed Worker Is Getting BAaTo Work Woikers get injured. When they do, they need compensation. But, not just in the fomi of money. That helps them get over the Initial finandal hardships, but it is not a lasting solution. Becoming re-employed is. What these woikers need is an employer who will aive them the opportunity to re-enter the work force. To allow them, once again, to Be productive, valued employees. Through the Employer Incentives Program, the WCB substantially reduces the costs incurred by employers who hire injured or disabled workers. We'll evaluate the worker's potential. We'll subsidize retraining costs. We'll assume the cost of any woric-site modifications to accommodate the worker. We'll monitor the woricer's perfomiance and provide hill support services to both the employee and employer. All the employer has to do is open the door. To someone like Mary Mad)onald. MARY MACDONALD OF 6LACE BAY OPERAND A PLANER IN A MZMTOffX'when she lost three fingers on her right hand. But, that didn't stop Mary. After her convalescence she went back to the millworks and put in half days for six months. However, the work was seosonol. So with WCB's help, she went back to school at the Adult Vocational Training Centre. There, she took courses to help her achieve a desire she hod held for some time. She became a cook. Today, she is employed at Don's Cafe in Sydney where she not only cooks, but helps in the day-to-day operation of the cafe. "There isn't anything I can't do, given the chance," says Mary. That's true of most injured workers. Given the chonce. Hire an injured worker. Don't confuse disability with inability. For complete information on the Employer Incentives Progrom, contact: Rehabilitotion Department. J WORKERS' 5668 South SmcT SmirMcDicuAsTsBLDG. I COHHPENSAWN PostOffiaBox 1150 336Kims'RoAO,SuiT[ll7 I BOARD OF NOM Scotia Hum.NoukoviSSJiy? SroNcr. HovA Scorn BIS 1A9 w uuMiiuuriivtHj'uim f'i''g'i fg2 4244529 Mfhohc 902 5646451

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