Page 17 - A Visit with Winston Ruck, Steelworker

ISSUE : Issue 60

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1992/6/1

foreman came. He took the loan sheet that somebody had. He told us where to put down our lunches and hang up our coats. He knew we were all brand-new men--young boys. Eight of us or ten of us. And he put us to work cleaning up the tracks--the slag off the tracks. Throwing it into an old pan. And cranes would come and lift it up and carry it away and dump it. And we were just terri? fied. Terrified, you know. You have to be careful. 'Cause things are moving on tracks. The train'd be coming in this door-- backing in, you know. The fore? man was very, very careful with us. He knew we were all (new)-- he would watch us. He would say, "Now watch out there now!" First thing you know, there's a crane car, you know--a ladle of steel. And sparks were flying! And he'd say, "Go on inside there for awhile." And we'd go in there, and then he'd go in and call us out. That was quite an experience--shocking to me. Trains coming in to take out the steel. A side door--you might be standing there, all of a sudden you hear, "Bwooo! Bwooop!" You didn't know what direction it was coming from. But after awhile you be? came familiar with where you had to go; where you should walk and where you shouldn't walk. He was very kind to us. That was my first shift that night, and I put it in. Sleepy, and tired, of course, after working all day. But still happy and, elated that I was working. (And coming out after your first day's work..,.) That was my first time that I actually saw inside the steel plant. We had seen the steel plant from the outside, walking by it on the way. Going up to Ash? by, you had to walk by the Wire and Nail Mill. But it was fenced in--you couldn't Build with Beautiful Cape Breton Wood! Finewood Flooring and Lumber ,% ESTABLISHED 1982 , We Kiln Dry Select Cape Breton Hardwoods and We manufacture our products to exacting specifications • Yellow birch and sugar maple flooring - extra long select grade • Wall panelling and wainscott kits, cut to fit your individual needs • Fine mouldings in extra long lengths • Baseboard • Window or door trims • Cornice mouldings, and more • Stair treads and risers • Other household components Lumber: selects and better • Other species often available: beech, ash, elm Come and see what we make! • We are on the Cabot Trail at Middle River

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