HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-03-13, Page 8PAkig. 2Br OD_ RICH SIQN,AL-S" A,R, THbRSDAY, MARCH 13,1975
Max Clairroht
One of the ablest dredge
captains on the lakes
COPYRIGHT BY
W. E. ELLIOTT
From Big Bill Forrest's
island in Goderich harbor
scows and dredges were
launched, but the westerly
island, where the Sifto plant -is
now, holds unique distinction as
the launching of a boy. It was, " Captain Max was fitting out the
the, birthplace of a future dredge Goderich to do,)ier first
dredge. operator, Norman job in Goderich harbor since
Clairmont. she had been sold to Dad and
. Norman was the son of Bill Forrest. It so happened
Captain Maxwell Clairmont. that that same summer I
and his wife, Mary' Stalker, finished at the Royal Military
living on the island at the time. College and elected to follow
There were other residents; father's footsteps and enter the
McCormick and Leonard are., construction game. Dad had
recalled. gone to considerable trouble to
"Captain Max came here to explain to me, during several
help , build the outer break- hot.rrs, everythin§ that was
waters," . explains Mrs. ' Nor- wrong with being in the con -
man Clairmont, ' of 53 struction business, and when he
Lighthouse Street, "and when concluded he said: 'Now, son, I
my Norman was born in1907 =- want'you to think it over very
the only child ever born on the carefully, before you decide to
island — Dr, Whitely went enter into this line of work as a
across theharbor in a boat." lifetime occupation, and don't
It was °in effect an island, ever say that I did not warn you
inasmuch as if reached from about its drawbacks.' I said;
the north pier it necessitated `Dad, I don't have to think it
crossing on a plank. There was 'over; I want nothing else than
then no north road; also, to work with you and Bill.' His
Goderich had no hospital. reply was: `Well, son, you're a
Dr. James Benson Whitely, a damn fool, but. that is what I
native of Goderich township, hoped you'd say,'
served Goderich and district, "When I arri °ed in Goderich ..
-16e-al ha _ceniur and , W�s��.wtth d_in. June;1921,<feelxng., a...
related that in severe winter that my . education was com-
s:torrns he often left his car in a plete, I was handed over• to
____drift -and traveled on foot -to -his Captain__ Max _..with._ these
patients. Norman . Clairmont "comments froin'Dad: `There he
may have been the only baby he is, Max;.. he doesn't know a
delivered with the aid of a boat. danU'i thing, but he thinks, he
Norman at'12 or 13 left school does, :so try and find a job, for
and became in turn a scowman, him where he can be of some
oiler, crane operator and help'to'you.'
captain of a dredge, as his • "Max's education in school
father had been. He also had not 'progressed too. far
followed the example of Cap when he -had to go to work for
tain Max in acquiring his living, so having the boss's
proficiency as a diver. son dropped. in• his lap, he
Maxwell •Clairmont joined naturally looked . for• a" job
the 161st (Huron) Battalion, where some education would
C.E.F., in War I and went count. The dredging.. contract
overseas with it. When the unit that was about to start was on a
was "
overseas
up for rein- `seo`w measure' basis. The
forcements,, he was posted to government engineer
the 47th Battalion in France. measured the capacity of the
For bravery"h actionlle` ars dump scows, and' -,so did the
awarded --the Military Medal,
and at demobilization he. held
the rank of sergeant.
Captain. Max was, declared
"one of the most able dredge
captains on the Great -Lakes'',
by C. J. Bermingham, of
Bermingham Construction,
who as a youth just out of Royal..
Military College came under
his wing. •In his notes, made
available now by his son, C.
William Bermingham, Col-.
Bermingham devoted several
-pages to his experience:, with
Captain' Clairmont, in 19214and
afte'r-._:_....,...._..,....._..... _.,...._.,._._. ._...-..
"The title of `captain' of a
dredge, with the respon-
sibilities of its eight or ten crew
members, is not obtained," he
wrote, "as in the case of a tug
captain, for. example, by
passing a written examination
on the knowledge of navigation,
or whatever, but is bestowed
upon the recipient' at the sole
discretion of the owner of the
dredge. You may be sure that
such a position of authority is
given only when..,'the, new
`captain' has •co'me up from the
bottom as, first, a deckhand;.
second, ' a fireman; third, an
oiler, who learns at firsthand
how the machinery works, and 44,
finally as a cranesman and
, then an operator-.
"A dredge captain,, if he, is a ,
good man, must .be a com-
bination of a number of trades.
He must be a ship carpenter in
the days of wooden dredges. He
must be a mechanic, and know
all about boilers and steam
engines, and he must have
ingenuity enough . to effect
emergency repairs when he is
far from a machine -shop. He
also should be enough: _ of a
meteorologist ,to guess about
the weather; so that he does not
jeopardize his crew and the
dredge by staying out in an
exposed location in heavy
weather.
"Such a 'man _was Captain
,Maxwell Clairmont of Goderich ,
one of the most able dredge
captains on the Great Lakes.
He Fame with the dredging
plant when my Dad and Big Bill
(W., L.) i7QQrrest bought it in 1920
from. the estate of W. L. Horton.
"Besides ' eing the most
efficient captai I have ever
known, and having a good
working knowledg'e'-of all the
trades I have mentioned, he
was an expert diver —using the
old conventional hard-hat
diving gear that was the only
onew in common use prior to the ,
introcl;uCtion of skindiving
equipment. I once saw him split .
font 1'1/rin+l✓h hexagon nuts to
remove them, in eight feet of
water, using only a cold -chisel
and_a short -handled eight-
po td sledge hammer. It took
him a day and a half to do it,
whereas with today's un-
derwater cutting equipment he
would do the job in about 20
minutes.
"In the early summer of 1921,
contractor.. They got together
and agreed upon a so -much -
per -scow measurement, and on
that basis the contractor was
paid. Little was known about
the number; of bottles of
whiskey the' government in-
spector received so that his
eyesight was improved in
looking at a loaded scow.
"Captain Max armed me :..
with a steel tape and supplied a
laborer helper to hold. the end of
Measure
and , said to me,
Meeasure up them dump scows,
and tell me how much ' each of
them holds — and you 'betted be
right.'
"This, of course, was right up ,
my alley, with my college
education, so, to the last
quarter of an inch I measured
up the dump scows, retired to
the telephone -booth -sized office
aboard the dredge, did my
calculations and presented
Max with a sheet of foolscap
paper on which I had arrived at
the answers. Proudly I said,
`Max, Number One scow holds
.609 cubic yards and Number
Two' scow holds 603 cubic
yards.'
"Captain Max just looked at
continued on page 7B'
1
}
The island on which Capt. Norman -Clairmont was born, _and which Is now the site:of the Sifto'
salt mine, 'is shown in the uppe>i'•.,right area of this photograph. On the margin, a pencilled
description n states: "Goderich harbor about, 1906 — no breakwaters." The Berifiingham-
Forrest partnership completed the first 500 -foot breakwater"in 1907 and 1908. Big Bill Forrest's
island appears at lower right. There appears to_be a dredge and scow at the outer end of the
south pier. - (Photo from Bermingham Collection.)
I
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'1