HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1973-05-02, Page 6I
Visitor recalls days in Ontario north
Mrs. Laura Kidd of Sioux
Lookout, a Brussels native, spoke
last week to a meeting of the
. Huron Historical So'Ciety in Brus-
sels and opened her talk with
impressions of early days in
Brussels where she was born
three-quarters of a century ago
and lived until going North to
teach in 1925.
She told of the extensive acti-
vities of her father; Philip Ament,
and family and recalled names
and locations of many business
places and families, and
activities of those days.
Much of this was published,
under her name, in the cen-
tennial issue of The Brussels
Post, but was of great interest
to the audience at this meeting
of the Huron Historical Society.
The remainder of her address
on her years in the north told
of pioneer days there, and as
it is now, is as follows:
I went to Sioux Loukout in
September, 1925, to teach. My.
brother Mike had a drugstore
there and later became the first
tourist operator.
Sioux Lookout is on the main
line of the C.N.R. about 285 miles
this side of Winnipeg. North
of it is a vast area of bush
with • mines • and lumber opera- •
tions.
When I arrived there was no
electricity in the town except on
the main Street. This was sup-
plied by the C.N.R. There were
no taxis or telephones, the road
crossed the tracks and ended at
the town dock just opposite. It
was several years before 14 mile
of road was built and about 1934
before it reached Highway 1'7.
There was no waterworks.
You have heard of men "falling
off the water-wagon." We ac-
tually had one - a galvanized,tank
on wagon or sleigh, filled at the
town spring, which was still going
strong after 50 years use. The
water .was removed by the pail-
fuls and sold for fifty cents a
barrel at the houses.
There were no cement side-
walks except on Main St. so
boardwalks or cinder ones were
the order of the day. In winter
whoever came out first from the
home' tramped a trail down the
middle of the road.
The school had 8 rooms, soon
12. They had one Continuation
room with Grade 9. After the
new wing was built it went to
Grade 10. Now they have two
Public Schools, a Separate
School; a school for the Retarded,
one for Nursery and an excellent
High School.
- The Red Lake gold rush
started that winter and though the
men and supplies went in from
Hudson, the next hamlet to Sioux,
15 miles away, Sioux enjoyed the
adtivity as well.
My sister-in-law had taught
school in Sudbury so knew most
of the mining men who came
north. As the trains came through
at 2:30 and 3:00 a.m. these men
-enjoyed someone's home while
waiting. So Ken would round
up some of us teachers and many
good Bridge game was enjoyed.
we girls helped our hostess pre-
pare and serve the lunch:
in foster homes, they can see
their parents after school hours.
These parents had nowhere to
go to talk to other parents who
were also in town, so they met
in the beer parlour with the tragic
results. They ordered beer,
found themselves lolling on the
street and were picked up by the
cops and lodged in jail for their
own frotection.
Now Friendship Centres are
being established in the towns by
socially-minded people, aided by
the- Government. The Indians
run them with some white gui-
. dance. There are a few beds,
cheap, but mostly they are places
to meet their friends, hold
gatherings and conditions are
much better. The Indian families
on our streets today are mostly
better-dressed. The children are
clean, cute little tykes, the babies
(papooses) still- ride in their
tikanagins on their mother's
back. This is not the case of
all of them but more and more
are learning the ways of civili-
zation and the men are earning
good money fire-fighting, or with
the Forestry or commercial
fishing in summer. They still
trap or work' with timber con-
tractors in the winter.
My first 12 years, of my
married life were spent at mines.
This was quite an experience.
Uchi Lake had just opened when
I went in as a bride. I lived
in a small' log cabin and for the
first year it was completely sur-
rounded by ,bush. There was no
electricity for one and one half
years and water was carried from
the lake,
The house Captain bought
was built by a Vancouver English-
man whose wife just couldn't
take bush living. While she
visited frequently in Vancouver,
her husband worked on the cabin.
The door to the washroom was
Ten-test with a long spike at
the top and one at the bottom
en which it swung. By the time
we arrived this swivel was badly
worn so ,I climbed to the attic
to replace the top' one, Captain
crawled under the house to fix
the bottom one! The door often
Antarctic Social Studies inGrade hand sewing and embroidery is stood against the wall.
five, I was quite amused when out. They learn to budget and His attempts at running water
I took my album to school to ,'buy wisely. consisted of a large tank on a
show the class, Balchen's picture. I am sure the Government trestle. He expected electricity
We had a rival Grade 5 and one of would never have established this sooner and aimed to fill it by
my class was heard to announce, wing if they did not realize some- means of a pump using lake water.
"Our class has something you thing had to be done for our In the meantime he climbed the
haven't got. Our teacher's boy- Indian pupils who seldom went ladder and filled it one pail at
friend piloted Byrd over the South beyond Grade eight. 'a time. The only time I had
Pole. (because his sister's album As for the adult Indians there running water was when it rained.
contained pictures of her 130y- is quite a drinking problem. YOU My husband didn't love me enough
friends it was logical that Balchen should understand this. These to climb 'the ladder!!!
was one of mine when his plc- parents are deprived of their When it was 40 or 50 degrees
ture was in my album. children and Indian parents love below we would awaken about
The Provincial Air Service their children. They come to 3:00 a.m. and I swear I had
had several planes in Sioux. It town many miles to see them. I , icicles on my back! Captain
was established in 1921... A plane always thought it pathetic when always had firewood handy to
You with your luggage and charged
one dollar a lb. It paid to, be
skinny.
Soon the north was opening up
and. the bush pilots were kept
busy ferrying from Sioux and
Hudson to the new mines - Red
Lake, Woman Lake, Pickle Crow,
Central. Pat, Bathurst. Most of
the pilots who became famous
flew "by the seat of their pants"
as they used to say. That is,
they had no instrument panel to
guide them. They had to know
their district, their weather,
everything. Al Cheeseman who
flew for the Sir Hubert Wilkins
expedition to the North pole,
Pat Reid who rescued a Russian
flier from Bering Strait;
"Stevie" Stevenson after whom
the first Winnipeg Airport was
named; "wop" May and many
others. Bernt Balchen, the Nor-
wegian, who flew the Atlantic with
Byrd and also was his pilot when
he discovered the South Pole was
in Hudson for six months. The
Western Canada Airways had
purchased three Fokker planes
but because the pilots didn't'
undertstand winter flying, once
they came down they couldn't
get them airborne again. So
Fokkers sent Balchen and a me-
chanic to Hudson to help. Some
of the problem was the freezing
of the oil over night. -so the . oil
was removed at night and re-
heated in the morning. The nose
of the machine was run into a
small hangar. This helped too.
They had ski trouble also.
They broke when they landed on
rough ice; they stuck to the
ice over night. While Balchen
was in the North he consulted
with the Elliott Bros. of S.L.
who made aeroplane skiis. These
men were master craftsmen and
came up with the idea of
laminating the skiis (three tiers)
so they gave when they landed.
Then the bottoms were sheathed
in brass so they no longer re-
mained glued to the ice.
Balchen suggested to Byrd
that they use S. L. made skiis for
the Antarctic expedition. This
was done.
When I was teaching the
dential School. It was built and
and supported by the Anglican
Church, but is now Dominion
Government controlled. The
children are flown in from the
north or brought in by boat by
their parents. When the school,
first started they were brought in
at eight to sixteen years. There
was a language problem as they
spoke Cree. Around 1960 we
integrated them into our Public
Schools starting at Grade four.
They all still lived at the school.
Now they start in Grade one if
they have enough understanding of
English. Many of them do as
they have now learned from their
older brothers and sisters who
are home for the holidays.
Foster homes in town are now
found 'for the older pupils so
they are learning our ways and
integration is more of a success.
The Indian child (the majority)
is not an academic student. He
is a painfully• neat writer so is
slow in his work. Most are
artistic. They learn to read
fairly quickly but their compre-
hension is poor. ThiS is largely
the fault of the texts and the
teachers. When a child comes
to school who has never seen
a train or a car or a large
city store and your lessons are '
about this life, he has nothing
to tie his thinking to and unless
things are explained thoroughly,
no wonder he doesn't com-
prehend. They need to learn
skills by which they can earn
a living. There has been a
wonderful new vocational wing
added to ‘our High School and is
in its first ,year of operation.
Electrical work, welding, _car- •
pentry, auto mechanics, drafting,
typing, book-keeping and,' Home
Economics are taught. This
latter subject is entirely,different
to what I used to teach. They
need to know skills of use in
the business -world - hair-dres-
sing, cooking for crowds, waiting•
on tables, laundry. In sewing the
emphasis is more on clothing
themselves - knowing a pattern,
cutting, machine stitching,
choosing suitable materials and
their care. The old form of
we had a nice Company house,
electricity, bathroom, a nice lawn andgarden. There were roads .
six miles to the stores. in Beard.
more so we were able to have a
car. For diversion we went to
the Lakehead for a few days, When we returned to Sioux
Lookout, I took up teaching again,
Captain worked for the Great
Lakes Pulp and Paper as Dis.
trict Clerk: '
If you ever get an opportunity
to visit a gold mine, try to al%
rive the last day of the month
and see the gold bricks poured,
Lumbering toddy is much ad.
vanced with their tree farmers
machines that reach up, grasp
the tree, top it and remove
branches and swing the log down
to where it is wanted, all in one
motion. Tree haulers scoop up
a dozen logs at a time and load
them or place them where
desired. With a machine doing the
work of half a dozen men, it is no wonder there is unemploy-
ment. It was expected but unpro-
vided for.
• I am glad I have lived in the
north. It has made me self-
reliant and able to enjoy pleasure
of my own making. One learns
to help one's neighbour and make
yourself generally useful.
I do hope you will visit our
north sometime if you have not
already done so. You will enjoy
it. Remember black flies don't
light on yellow but love blue so
'govern yourself accordingly. As
for winter, it is absolutely beauti•
ful with -the wide , expanses of
white snow, the sparkle of frost
on the poplars and birches and
the fluffy bundles of white snow
on theevergreen branches. Forty
to fifty degrees below? You
don't feel it- for you dress to
combat it and you really breathe
and feel the lift of the spicy
air. One deep breath and you
will be won over to love the
north as I do.
See the new
line of
tic
an
ch
stt
qu
Go
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191
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all
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cart a p o one observer -
who watched for the whiff of see parents at the neon hour.,
start the fire over and by the
break-
smoke indicated the beginning of talking through the six foot link tittle we had to get
up for
a fire. Many of the observers fence to their children within the fast it was cozy again.
were University students who school yard. They were confined After two years the mine was
later became our Ontario to the yard as they frequently closing -lack of men and ore.
doctors, dentists, engineers or ran away on us. Now the chil- We went to Leitch near
pilotS themselves. Giff Swart- dren are allowed uptown at noon Beardinore for nine yearS. This
Ma* who was married to Doris hour and of• course if they are mine had been going for twelve
and had a colourful. career. He
years ' so was well-established. Ross was one of these pilots
later became Indian agent for Transportation to the Gold the region to the north of Sioux. fields was Very primitiVe. The Today the Provincial planes first prospectors who, went in, fight the fires very efficiently. walked, snowshoed, or used dog Once a fire is spotted, men, teams. Then came the tractor pumps and equipment are flown trains. A tractor would pUll two in, often by helicopter, as these or three sleighs loaded with can land close to the fire. The supplies and Men; and a caboose Indian bucks frOM the north are on the back. . There were two ' brought to-Sioux for the Stnmer., drivers on fent hour shifts. One - They make excellent fire-Slept while the other drove. Small fighters as they love the foreSt evergreens -marked the trail, and will work round the clock After a sterna , later, they had a Until the fire iS OUL big roller to ge ahead and flatten. Now that they have come up the read: They tried a sneWino-, with 'water .-boinbing; fires can bile but it WaSn't very satisfac- often be doused quickly, The tory. It was a Ford car with plane skims across the lake, a the front WheelS removed and lever is im pressed and water IS replaced by sklis, draWti th the pontoons, The tv summer the boats a
nd
plant then flies over the fire', Otter' and there were also three the pilot presses the button and planes. Jack V. Elliott; WhO, a ShoWer of Water itradidateS
H
a pilot training school in the fire. 'but* our 1967 tire llanfilton during wotld War it was you could heat the planes hying the firSt to bring tWiti planes in: night and day,. • they Were open cockpit and Cat-
You are' no doubt interested tied only one passenget and a in the Indian question, minimum of SUPPiieS. Doc bakeS Sik: miles iip the lake, (I6 mile had the Lark.' They weighed bk toad) is a large Indian itediii,'
6,..titi BRUSSELS POST,, MAY 2,, Oh
led t and we first started inte ration to
washers& dryers
at
OLDFIELD'S
HARDWARE
8874851 — BRUSSELS
1..
Brussels
Hairdressers Association
Announces 'due. to rising operating costs there
will be a slight price increase 'effective
MAY 8, 1973
George of 'Brussels Hairstyling.
Grace's Hairstyling
Val's Beauty Salon
Beauty Salon