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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1981-03-25, Page 6POW (01400k*OW -1Sikek 2s; JOCELYN SHRIER . Ptublishr r SHARON J. DIETZ Editor ANTHONY N. JOHNSTONE 'Advertising and • General Manager PAT LIVINGSTON - O..ifice Manager MERLE. ELLIOTT - Typesetter . JOAN HELM Composition Butiiness and .Editorial Office Telephone 5:28-2822 Mailing Address P.O.A Box 400, Lucknow.. NOG 2H0 Second Class 'Mail Number -084T • • The Canadian Diabetes Assciciation encourages everyone o become familiar with the syniptoms and treatment of diabetes, Common . symptoms include continuing thirst, urination much too .often, hunger, more or less than usual, loss of weight, tiredness' and blurred eyesight. Anyone can be thirsty, hungry or tired, but, if you notice any of these symptoms ,.lasting -for longer than you would expect, why not check with your doctor? A simple urine test and perhaps one or more blood tests, for .sugar will determine .diabetes., __No one really knows what causes diabetes.. It is known that the pancreas' become ineffective,' nod 'heredity; obesity sand viruses are contributing factors. Anyone, even children, can get. diabetes, but it is ,more' • likely to befound in o ` ie with diabetic relatives diabetes eIy and pep >t ,... runs in families; ' people over age 40, especially when ,overweight, . (of all people who get diabetes, about four in five are over 40 and overweight) and women, diabetes is more common: in women than in men. Insulin is not ,a cure for diabetes but it is. a priceless aid that has restored life to those who used to die from diabetes, prolonged the life -span and enabled them to lead nearly normal lifestyles.. Diabetes is especially, prevalent in affluent countries such as ours, because affluence encourages obesity. Even 20 per cent excess weight doubles the chance of getting diabetes. If yo u have -diabetes there are'ways of keeping yourself healthy. The success of regular activity, good eating habits and possible medication, depends 'largely on what you . do withwhat you have learned about your condition. If every Canadian followed the same goodand proper eating and exercise habits as diabetics should and do, there would not be nearly : as many people withdiabetes in Canada today. The Canadian Diabetes. Association is composed of a 'groupof people, working as a team in Canada to help 'all diabetic persons, their 'families' and friends. The Associa- tion raises ssocia- tion:raises money to assist diabetics through education, fellowship, research and publicity. Anyone interested in further information about diabetes can contact. the Wingham and District Branch of the Canadian Diabetes Association. Peaveys and pikepoles were well- known words on the lips of. the early ar- rivals to this country and March was the. time of year when . lumberjacks used. those tools. Back 'in the days when big'' timber was being cut, the river crewshad to°vait for the lake ice toclear before the spring log drive could begin. My Irish grandfather' and his older sons were rivermen. They • s.Fent the winters in , the logging camps. A reconstructed camp in Algonquin Park can only leave a visitor shaking his•, head: and wondering how.a couple of dozen. men could live and work in such dreadful. surroundings for many weeks, at a time.. I'in too young to remember the big,log ging drives but .I recall listening to Grampa taik about it.,The d usually came in April .or May and ,no- power developed to that date could stop those' wild trips down the rivers, across the ,\lakes, over ,the falls andthrough the gorges, to the sawmills. Not much of that type of logging is done these days. Most of what is harvested. goes for pulp mills and those little logs wouldn't keep a turtle afloat. , In those days, many farmers spent the winters in the loggingcamps and the rest. of the year trying to cultivate the land. Many would have gone broke .as farmers if the were' not able togo loggingin.the y�. winter. The river crews were kings during the drives. In the bush during the winter, the fellers were the important men but when the drive began, the river crew took over. They.rode" the logs as• though" they were born on them. They had the responsibility of keeping. the logs moving. When those logs jamm- ed, it was dangerous work, Whew* key log was found and the jam was loosened, those huge logs would fly like , match sticks. The river crew had to run for it when the jam broke. They were sure- footed as maintain goats and had to leap from log to log until the jam settled. Some died doing the job. If the peaveys ',Pilaw,: eie Ipp.et alt.a br eab Ont N302C? and pikepoles didn't work, they would use dynamite. ' Gramps talked about many men Stan- ding in freezing water for hours almost upto their waists yet few of them ever. . got a cold If they' did, they wouldn't ad- mit it anyway, he said. He remembered working in a camp in northern . Haliburton county one year. when the foreman pulled a box from under Grampa's bunk. In it was the spr- ing supply of dynamite. "And.1 was a heavy pipe smoker," he said. "That box of dynamite was under my bunk all winter.!" The most important man in the •camp during the winter months, said Gramps, was the cook. Men were fed; four times a day and the food had to be good Or they. simply,left camp. Any lumber baron who stinted on food could not muster a crew the following. winter. Grampa Lytle *as not an articulate man but he must have had the soul of a poet. I remember him -talking about the evenings' in May the logs were held by huge bag -booms in the quiet lake waters. When the breeze dropped just at sunset, he said, "You couldsmell the sweet stink of scarred pine and spruce that came strong across the water. That was back in the days before chain saws,' too, and a Man with an axe who could use that tool properly was valuable in the camps. I don't remember my granddad when he could handle an axe that well .but my father told me he could fell a tree within inches of where . it was meant to fall. He used to keep his axes in' a special place and nobody else cotiid use them. I guess they were: forgotten whenhe. died. My father prowled the old homestead up near Buckhorn.and found them stashed high up in the rafters of the woodshed behindthe house. By that time, they had rusted badly but my father kept them for years: I wonder where they are today? And how many people would know how to use them if they were found? By Don Campbell • The crew and passengers on the schooner Kingston Lass looked forward to the- marriage at sea of Flora Fraser And Neil MacCrirnmon. There was no wedding dress for the bride, neither was there any suitable material for skilled Highland fingers to fashion into a gown. One woman produced a pale blue dress which had seen better days, and the captain gave Flora a white embroidered silk scarf he had recently purchased in Halifax. This .was transformed into a bride's headdress. There wire no fine shoes for the occasion but as somebody said, it would be. a happy union, for it fulfilledall the marriage superstitions of the Highlands. "Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue". The most important item . had almost been overlooked. "We shall manage fine for everything," Flora said to Chippy Chisholm. "But we no have a ring. I dinna want to use the ring of my first marriage. 'Twould be a curse on the wedlock - or so it was said, back in the glens of hame.'" Chippy.. was delighted to contribute so admirably to the g Y wedding of the happy couple. From around his neck, upon a dirty well° worn cord, he took'a golden ting set with a single opal. It had a fine fire in its depths. He took his clay pipe from his mouth and his otd blue eyes became misty. "She would have wanted you to have it, though .she never put it upon her finger. We were young then and I bought it at the baaar in Manderlay-. ''Tway not to be. :The east and the west I suppose. Och'take it! It does nae es good hanging around the neck of a sentimental old fool!" In calmer waters and near the northern shores of the St. Lawrence River, the ' marriage ceremony was i performed and the sun smiled down upon the scene, Neil- MacCrimimon waited for his bride to appear upon the deck. The small group of immigrants and ships crew were arranged cin two groups on either side of the minister. Gulls circled and cried out above the rigging. A gentle wind billowed the sails, fluttered the red ensign . and pulled at the surplice of the Reverend Duncan MacLeod. Neil •MacCrimmon, stood nervousjyand self conscious on the right of the minister. Beside him, the captain himself performed the duties of best man. The fisherman from Aberdeen' waited for the appearance of Flora Fraser with his fingers resting upon the keys of his concertina. As the first notes of the wedding march were played, the women let out gasps of "oh!" and "ah!" and Neil could not restrainhimself from • turning to look• ovef his shoulder. Upon the arm of Chippy Chisholm, Flora was walking slowly and proudlytowards them. Wearing humble clothes she paced with the air of a princess, her cheeks flushed with excitement and her hair falling free upon her shoulders. Chippy had borrowed a jacket and shoes. He looked almost dignified without his clay pipe and he had trinnned his beard for the occasion. • "Who giveth this woman in matrimony?" the minister called out. . ',Somebody in the crowd nudged Chippy Chisholm: 'Tis I, Chippy Chisholm," he said before stepping back into the spectators. '. The minister felt a twinge of g'ui1t, as if he was speaking to himself when he said, "If any of you know cause or justice why this anan,and this woman shall not be joined together in holy matrimony, ye are to .declare it!" �. Many had witnessed marriage ceremonies before, but they had taken place ina kirk in theshadow of the mountains. ,There was something strange about a wedding performed on a ship amongst people, in clothes. of poverty, where babies were cradled, in arms and older children peeped shyly at the scene, from behind their mother's long skirts. The voice of Flora Fraser could scarcely be. heard as. she answered the minister, The words "I do" were whispered but they were heard clearly enough by the Pan to whom they were the most important. With the placing of the ring upon the finger and the words of MacLeod! "He who God has joined together let no man put asunder". Neil felt the responsibility he had under- taken. `know pronounce you man and wife!" The Reverend Duncan MacLeod concluded. Neil knew what he had to do next and yet he felt reluctant to act. Se using his embarrassment, Flora placedher hands upon his cheeks and the ring opal the pal stone touched his face. She \kissed him gently upon the lips and this was indeed the most important moment of his life. Strange but true, it was the first time he had kissed Flora or any other .woman except for the imituediate members of his own family. Yet, in a world . where survival took precedence over all other human endeav- our; perhaps itwas not so strange. r re,