HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1973-10-31, Page 2In -a nostalgic mood today, I've been
thinking that, with the • onslaught of the
Speed Age, many of our fine old Canadian
traditions have fallen by the wayside, died
on the vihe, or simply lain down and
curled up their toes.'
One of the first to go, ofoourse, was ,
the blacksmith. It hurts me to face the
truth: that most people today under thirty
have never knoWn the sensory Joys of'a
blacksmith's shop.
At this time of year, small boys used
to squeeze through the ramshackle door,
and edge as, close as they could to the
fire, freezing their bums and roasting
their cheecks. There was a fine acid
stench of horse manure and scorched
hooves: Ther a was the leaping flame
as the bellows blew, There Was the ring-
ing clang as the smith beat out the white-
hot Metal between hanirner and anvil, and
the satisfying hiss when the hot metal
Was plunged into the cold water.
At a certain age most male kids would
have settled happily for the life of a
blacksmith, a free SoUrWho- spent his days
doing the most fascinating work in the
World,
The decline of the' smith," of course,
was brought about by the gradtial phasing
out of another tradition - the horse-
drawn vehicle.
I wonder how Many kids of this gellet
atiOn have. eVer spent a winter Saturday-
ilcatehing bobs" pent Thia was our terra for
jumping On the ba.cka Of farmers' eleighe„
All day long the fanners canie arid
Went to and ironi town. And all day long
we hopped on behind a load of graih,
left that fez' a load: of supplies going the
Other Way, picked up a sleigh piled with
loge for the return trip, and shivered
With delighted fear as the'farniera shouted
at us, and even fibutithed their whips
at us, and even sometimes flourished their
whips in our direction.
AS we greW a little Older, about, 12, We
graduated to catching on the wing of a,
cutter, this was nitire dating and inete.
dangeroue beditiSe they could really
the runner WAS Mildh and the
farmer could turn-
smaller,"
and belt you
one on The ear,
Most of therh, of tiiiirad; Were pretty
deeen‘ knoW now that they were more
worried abed getting hurt in .a fall
than they were abOut the extra weight
their horses had to pull.
Then there were the butchers' cutters.
These consisted of a sort of ,box with
runners beneath, and a step at the back
for the driver to stand on. The horses
were not plugs, but real road-runners that
went like a bat out Of hell. They were
every bit as exciting as a Roman chariot,
and the drivers were the envy of every boy,
in fur caps, reins in one hand, whip in
the other, as they tore through the town
like furies.
And I wonder how many boys have
played hockey all day on a frozen-river,
when a hard shot the goalie missed might
slide for a quarter of a mile. We never
had to worry about ice-time, or Chang-
lines. we could play until we were
pooped, then sit by the bonfire until
rested, and have another go. And there
Were always twenty or thirty playing at
Once, so everybody got a whack at the
ptick. Some great atick-handiers came
out of that era,
Think of the . depth§tO which we have
Sunk. The smithy, with its light and
ShadOWs, its reds and bliCkt, its earthy
its sense of lire, has been re-
placed by the garage, a sterile thing
with its ,eeinerit floor, HS :reek Of .gas
and oil , and its unspoken assurance that
this4s•genria.,,cost4ou-plentY-ibitaciyi
The cutter, Swift and light as a bird,
no lenger Skiing the snow. It has been
replaced by a stinking,- starling, skid-
ding beast that Only Modern man- ,could
abide - the anOWinobile,
NO More Mee.t.OUttera, detest-Wig ex-
Otind the corners on one runner, delivet-
ing' in any weather. Now, we plod like
zombies through the aiipetiriarket, to
moronic piped-Sri music and OA up
the odourless, antiseptic, cellophaned
padkages the great gode 1:)Orninlori, Lob-
laika or Safeway have assigned tOand
carry themhumbly tO our take, three
Wag: away,
Our kids hatie to get up at Elite
to play hockey, Tand if they're' not real
likiller0, get *bent Sour intnlites ICS;
tim e:
Ali, those were the dayet And
haven't even begun On the. most vital of
tal *Wet the consisting
Of a froift
•.77.77:=4„,
*F4040.4o
S ost
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1973 I
IIRUSIELS
ONTARIO
-Berting . 'Brussels ~ and the surrOundios t,bm troinitA
each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario
Say McLean Bros. Publishers, Limited.
Evelyn Kennedy Editor Tom Haley - Advertising
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association.
Subscriptions (in-advance) Canada $4.00 a year, Others
$5.00. a year, Single Copies 10 cents each.
Second class mail ,Registritibn No. 0562.
TelephOne 887-6641.
Look around
Did , you know that within ten
miles of our area you can find Ind-
ian sites, a flock of giant Canada
geese ancLa heronry? For a really
adventurous weekend trip that will
help you enjoy the last of our beau-
tiful fall scenery, how about.a
canoe trip down, the Bayfield River
or the Maitland?
The Ministry of Natural Resources
has published a series of booklets
which outline the above and more
attractions, all only a short drive
from Brussels. The Indian sites,
the, geese and the blue herons are
all at the Hullett Wildlife Manage-
ment Area, a 6,000 acre natural pre-
serve that is open to the public
year round. The area is between
Clinton and Seaforth, a mile and a
quarter north of .Highway 8.
The pamphlet series, 'available
from the Department at their Wing-
ham office, is crammed with good
ideas for spending leisure time
exploring our own back yard. The
Canoe the Maitland and Canoe the
Bayfield pamphlets are especially
valuable for those of us who like
the outdoors. but are a bit wary
about plotting our own canoe, route
and taking off for the unknown. The
pamphlets plot out a trip and des-
cribe what you'll see along the way.
Other booklets describe -Poi nt
Farms Provincial Park and environs,
on Lake Huron just north of Goder-
ich; the Agreetnent forests like the
Ellice and Hay Swamps and Dams--
how they work and how to build pri-
vate dams.
The, motive behind these pamphlets
-- publicizing the location and
availability of .the natural resour-
ces that are all around us and are
being preserved for public use, is
good. Our children and our child-
ren's children will be grateful, ,
that the Hullett Wildlife Area and
,Point Farms, Park were developed. 1
We need more such unspoiled re-
creational areas, and More pamphlets
which tell the public about them.
W6 hate to be nit-picking but there
is the Odd instance of poor re-
search in. the booklets which mar
their overall good impression.
For example, anyone canoeing the.1
Bayfield who follOWed instructions
in the pamphlet and looked for the
Hully Gully bridge at Egmohdville
would have a long, har'd look!
Send for the MiniStry pamphlets,
but do just read thern-- get up
off that chair and do some exploring
and enjoying r ght here in HUron
county.
Bayfield