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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1972-06-28, Page 39S roll rids kern Iges OF HURON IT:ES AND THE BRUSSELS POST th BIRTHDAYS Girvin Reed Eugene Frayne Douglas A. McNeil Evert Mcllwain Gerry G. Ginn Charles Thomas Joseph Hoffman Lloyd Hendrick Harold Robinson Melvile Allan Hugh Flynn Allan Campbell William J. Elston Elmer Hayter Anson McKinley Joseph Dietrich Cecil Desjardine Elgin Thompson Alex McGregor Ken F. McMichael Lloyd R. Ferguson Roy V. Pattison Robert W. J. Lyons Harold Lobb Frank Cook Clarence E. Boyle Donald MacGregor Paul Carroll David Gower John F. Flannery Wilmer J. Cahill Jack P. Alexander Harold Wild E. W. Oddleifson George Bailie Jack L. McCutcheon John Baker Gordon H. Hess HURON COUNTY • COUNCILLORS 1972 Elmer Hayter, Warden John G. Berry, Clerk-Treasurer B. G. Hanly, Dep. Clerk-Treasurer ing industrial development of .Brossels district yard on the wagons and even droVe the horses. At least I held the lines!. Dillie called me fq3ob-tailed Gordie after his horse, after I had my curls cut off and wore a ,.Dutch-cut" popular with kids at that time, Tit hair-cutting was quite an event! Mother sent me down to the barber shop with two of my brothers. Jack Duncan placed a board across the arms of the barber chair and I climbed up. The huge white bib swallowed me. When all was in readiness, Jack drevV w. one of the large glass bottles that decorated the shelf, towards the edge. In it was a wriggling snake in alcohol - com- mon decorations in such a shop. I was having nothing of that! Out of the chair and down the Street I went, my two brothers: after me. I reached the „i3ru sels Post before they caught. Me. I.P.- Onceinents of a banana and a bag of peanuts could not Perguade me to return to that snake or that barber. In One corner of the planing,. mill hutter-monidp, were macje, Four or five of us kids would go over after school and earn money putting the screws into the holes. that were drilled in the sides. of the mould. The men's fingers were too clumsy .to. pick up the tiny objects. We were paid: 60 for 100 sides, We piled them up in rows of ten, ten high,. dumped the screws in front, inserted them, then piled. the sides criss- cross. at the back of the work-. table. We could earn quite a bit in a Week, We had to hand in our time-slip when finished and collect Our Pay envelope with the men at the office Satrday night. How 1MPortant we kids felt! And how businesslike! ,We were always glad, when Dad received a butter-mould order, I had other ways of earning money such as taking the cow to and from pasture for 25C a week. Dad owned a farm down the 6th next to Balker's slaughter house. It had a large orchard on it. I remember one fall Dad had all the good apples picked, then told. Mike and me we could have the rest. There was an evaporator for drying apples just north of the railway where Mc- Donald's now stands. After school and on Saturdays, Mike and I Would hitch up Rosie„ the old gray mare, to the light wagon and away we went, to the farm. My feet were far from touching the floor boards. He climbed the trees, shook down the apples, (windfalls were accepted)„ I bagged them and he loaded them. After delivering our load to the apple factory we were always home for .6 p.m. supper. Dad had said when we kids saved $10 he would add another $10 and start a bank account for ' us. This was the beginning (as I hoped) of my first million! Dad also had a stave factory, an addition to the saw-mill, where they made the curved slats for barrels. By this time the coop- erage had been discontinued but the- staves were shipped in bhuarliddleescceulp4aetWiollen rea's This the boards a were steamed on large racks to Take the sides curl to givIc shape to the barrel. This was very hard on the men's hands as the boards were handled hot and even heavy gloves did not provide adequate protection. Their fingers would be bleached white. Fortunately this operation only lasted ,a month or so at a time. The lower corner of the plan- ing mill was a busy place during July and August, when they were making heading (tops for bar- rels). About. April the bass- wood logs were sawn into boards for heading and piled in the yard to partially dry. When the July operation started these boards were brought in and piled on cars and put in the kiln. It held seven of these cars and by the time the kiln was full, the first car was dry. Dad was allowed to hire boys under sixteen during the summer holidays for this operation. The boys could pile and clean up even better than the men as they took up less room. There were three work benches with saws and small hand carriages. Also tables next to them on which to throw the pieces. The bark had to be stripped off the side o f these boards by saw. The matches had a square board protruding from the table the size of the barrel head. They placed three or four boards to fit this and allow little waste, then piled them criss-cross for the turner to do the job of cutting the round heads. The turner needed skill if he was to keep up with the men. The fitted top was placed in the machine, clamped by means of a foot pedal, the iron revolved, and the barrel head and the waste fell through to "the hole". Brother Barney and sometimes Scott were the turners and Brother Mike was usually in "the hole". His job was toplace the good pieces on one side and the waste "turners" on the other. He sat on the floor which was hollowed out for his feet. A board apron covered his knees for protection. Another man baled the heading. There was a large semi-circular frame the size required for a bale. There were grooves at the bottom to insert wires. Then when enough tops were in the bale, the wires were drawn up over the top, the press came down and the wires were fastened. Th crew were on' a quota. When they finished their required number of bales for the day, they closed shop, sometimes by 3 p.m. This pleased the kids! The strips of wood sawn from the boards were tied into bundles and sold around town for "kind- ling" - the broken pieces ended up in the fire-hole for burning. The "turners", straight on one side, curved on the other were loaded on a wagon with a big rack and also sold around town. They made a quick summer fire, avoiding extra heat appreciated before the days of electric stoves. Many a time I was sent to the woodshed by Dad for a kind- ling stick to receive a couple of wha cks for some mis- dea.meanor. I imagine other Brussels kids remember Ament's kindling also! Everyone had wood stoves as there was no day time elec- tricity. The town had a plant on the south-west side of the Bridge (now apartments). Lights came on at dark and went out at eleven o'clock unless there was a dance when the electrician was paid extra to keep the lights on a few more hours. Dad put in a dynamo in the mill to provide lights there. The house lights were connected and in later years Were switched on for Mother and Margaret to iron. After Dad retired, Bill and (Continued on Page 16A) THE BRUSSELS POST, JUNE 28, 1972-1Sa