Page 12 - Frank Murphy and the Open Hearth

ISSUE : Issue 52

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1989/8/1

say." See. That was some of them, not all of them. Some of them were very, very good. They would take you and explain the thing to you. But some of them would try to hide it on you. Oh, yeah, they didn't want--they always figured--you see, the days before the union, if you learned (their) job, maybe they'd say, "Well, you're after my job." Especially in the foreign element, you know. Like the fel? lows that came from the Ukraine and those places, they always figured, "Well, my English broke, I can't talk a good Eng? lish. You get my job--I go back helping." This is the theme.... But as a rule, a lot of them were very, very good. I can say that. But there were some, a few that-- "You look for my job." (Did the workers on the Open Hearth all get together outside of work?) Oh, yes, we'd have our banquets and everything else. We'd have a bowling banquet. Or even the shifts would get together for a party, for a lobster party. Just the shift it? self. See, we had--when I started, we had the A, B, and C turns--three turns, three shifts. And each shift, like, when they got on day shift, in the evening they'd get together and go bowling. Or they'd go for a lobster do, or a fish fry, or some? thing like that, you see. CAPEBRETON OOKS AND MUSIC f'''i F • CASSETTE WITH EVERY PUR- ' p CHASE OF $15.00 OR MORE " • CHRISTMAS GIFT WRAP IF E REQUESTED E • DELIVERY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD H??- '0?< CAPE BRETON BOOK OF DAYS A compendium of humorous, fascinating and sometirnes little known historical items (illustrated) CAPE BRETON AT 200 Historical essays in honour of the Island's Bicentennial 1785-1985 Soft Cover $14.50 Hard Cover THE WELL-WATERED GARDEN 1798-1860 The Presbyterian Church in Cape Breton CAPE BRETON HISTORICAL ESSAYS 10 essays on topics ranging from 18th century French colonization, through 19th century Loyalist and Scottish migrations to 20th century labour unrest IMPRESSIONS OF CAPE BRETON A glimpse of Cape Breton Island through the eyes of some of the Island's more astute visitors coovc'*G GEORGE MacEACHERN: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY An excellent description of working-class youth in Cape Breton in the teens and twenties LA FLEUR DU ROSIER Acadian folksongs collected by Dr. Helen Creighton Soft Cover $24.95 Hard Cover THE CAPE BRETON FIDDLER and fiddle tunes A collection of photographs, character sketches FROM THE HEARTH Recipes from the world of 18th century Louisbourg . INNER VISIONS, OUTER VOICES An anthology of Cape Breton Poetry . . . $14.95 $24.95 $14.50 $7.95 $14.50 $9.95 $39.95 $14.50 $12.95 $11.95 RECORDS AND TAPES THE OCTET - SONGS OF THE CAPE The blending of a classical string quartet with four rhythm players performing in a traditional style $11.49 RITA MacNEIL - I'M NOT WHAT I SEEM Featuring nine original Rita MacNeil songs and one Leon Dubinsky tune $9.98 CELTIC MUSIC OF CAPE BRETON Newly recorded tunes by three of Cape Breton's finest fiddlers,Donald MacLellan, Dan Joe Maclnnis and Dave Maclsaac... $8.98 AND MUCH MORE SEND CHEQUE OR MONEY ORDER in the amount indicated above (Be sure to indicate choice of cassette) To: University College of Cape Breton Press P.O. Box 5300, Sydney, Nova Scotia BIP 6L2 PHONE IN YOUR ORDER (902) 539-5300, EXT. 148 The men were very, very close; very, very close. The men in the Open Hearth. Open Hearth men were noted for being close. For instance, if I was in Number 1 furnace and my furnace got in trouble--she was boiling on the bottom or some? thing, or boil? ing on the back wall--those men are all right down with their shovels and help you. Every one of them. But that's gone to? day. If I was in trouble today on Number 3, and Number 2--that fellow'd be sit? ting on his ass. You know? The attitude--the camaraderie- -is all gone out of it today. For instance, if one of our fel? lows died, eve? rybody would go to their wake. We'd go in a body. If he was sick, we'd all go in a body to hospital to see him. Everybody was--it was a close-knit shop. Because every? body that was on it, it was some-

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