Page 69 - Joe Nugent, Inspector of Mines, Ret'd

ISSUE : Issue 70

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1996/6/1

you'd get more money. So I went out to 18 and I was looking to get a place loading coal. All (the work) I got was (in) places where somebody was leaving. Nobody was out for that place (that is, had shown up for work there that day) and I was in there for a day, so it wasn't working out too good. So I didn't like the way things were going because I was making sometimes less money than I would have on regular shift work. Some men had the idea, you know, the new fellow's coming in with me today, I better take it easy. But at the end of the week I only had a share of the coal that I loaded on that particular day. It wasn't working out too good. So I went on a job shotfiring. I worked hard on the job, blasting coal for eight pair of men, sixteen men, that kept me go? ing all day long. I also often had the job of looking after a section--and that meant a lot of work. Looking after the section to insure that the ventilation was ade? quate, all the tracks were laid, the com? pressed airlines were placed, a testing for gas was done methodically and often. So that job was no good.... 1939 the war started and in 1942 there was a big shortage of miners. There was a shortage of miners and you couldn't join the army. I used to work with a fellow by the name of Billy Holland. I used to call him the fighting Dane, he was a boxer. He said to me one day, "Let's go and join the army." I said okay. So we went in to the recruiting station there. They didn't want to take miners, anyway, so they always found a good reason for it. So, Billy Hoi- Fitzgerald Studio 423 Charlotte St., P.O. Box 963, Sydney, Nova Scoda, Canada, BIP 6J4, Voice or Fax-((800) 575-2321 [email protected] Home Page <www.chatsubo.com/fitzgerald/> Multimedia Production Fortress of Louisbourg CD-ROM 839.9.1 An interactive Multimedia CD-ROM, is described by some as an enclyopedia on Fortress Louisbourg, an 18th century French Fortress on the East Coast of Canada. This CD-ROM is available for both MAC and Windows and in English and French. Alexander Graham Bell CD-ROM S49.95 Is a new Multimedia CD-ROM presenting Bell the Man, Bell the Inventor, and Bell the Humanitarian This CD-ROM plays on both MAC and Windows and is available in English and French. land was the first fellow interviewed, he said he wanted to join the army. He said, "You're a little too old for one thing." "I'm too old? What (are) you talking about, I'm too old?" After a little while he said to him, "I don't think we could use you be? cause we have to have a special type of person that's not obligated to anything else." He said, "Do you know who you're talking to?" "No. William Holland?" "Yes. William Holland. I'm the light-heavyweight champion of the Maritimes, and you tell me I'm no good to fight?!" He said, "I want to get in the g.d. army. Let me go in the ar? my, I can stop as many bullets as anybody else. Or let me go in the navy, I'll swal? low as much water as anybody else." Finally he ended that (they) said, "Report later on and we'll see what we have for you." But we never went back. Poor fellow got killed not too long after that. He got his back broken in the mine, a piece of stone fell on him. But this fellow. Bill, was the kind of a guy who never listened to anybody. He wouldn't put up supports, and it was a piece of rock that fell down and broke his back. I was in the scene at the hospital and he told me, "You know, boy, we got to be careful from now on." He didn't know his back was broken. I said, "Yeah." He said, "You always told me to put up tim? ber. You always told me to put the g.d. timber up there. I should listen to you." His spine was se? vered, he didn't live too long af? ter that. So you couldn't get released from the mine, no matter what you do. It was called you're frozen to your job. I don't know why, I'm sure that some of the best sol? diers they got over there were miners, coal miners from Cape Breton and other places. Eng? land and eve- rjrwhere else. Archie Neil and Margaret Chisholm Scholarship On Saturday, May 11, the University College of Cape Breton conferred an honorary degree, Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa on Archie Neil Chisholm, a fitting tribute to an individual who is regarded as being a household name throughout eastern Nova Scotia. A teacher, musician, storyteller, entertainer and broadcaster, Archie Neil grew up in Margaree Forks. Supported in his endeavours by his wife Margaret, and in spite of a serious physical handicap, Archie Neil has been a public figure who made a tremendous contribution to his community, often working tirelessly to assist those in need. To celebrate this honor and in recognition of his many accomplishments, friends and colleagues of this charismatic master teacher have initiated the UCCB Archie Neil and Margaret Chisholm Scholarship fund, which will be awarded annually to a mature student pursuing an education at the University College of Cape Breton. Donations may be submitted to Germaine LeMoine, Acting Director, Institutional Advancement, University College of Cape Breton, P.O. Box 5300, Sydney, N.S., BIP 6L2. We will inform all donors of the scholarship award particulars. (Receipts will be issued for income tax purposes). UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF CAPE BRETON 69

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